Final Fantasy XIII2: Guardians of the Timeline
by Cassie Sterling
Summary: When Noel fell into Valhalla and met Lightning, little did either of the two know how they would affect the other. This is their story. Warning: Contains slight spoilers for Final Fantasy XIII-2.


Final Fantasy XIII-2: Guardians of the Timeline

(A Noel X Lightning Fanfiction)

_It seems like only yesterday that Noel fell into Valhalla, guided there by the Goddess Etro, to find a way to defeat Caius and keep the timeline safe as a last wish from his friend Yeul, whose last vision showed a happy future where they'd meet again. I, Lightning, also asked for Noel's help in bringing my sister to me, since I had to protect the Goddess Etro from Caius, but little did I know back then that it would later be him that would be needing protecting... or how he caused emotions to stir in my heart that I hadn't felt before... Those of affection and of love... And how eventually, Noel would need me in order to stay in control much later on against those that would try to tempt him to the darkness... This is our story..._

Even after Lightning and Noel had parted ways because she had to stay and guard Etro from Caius, Lightning had a feeling that she and Noel would meet up again. This was soon proven when Noel was captured by Jihl Nabaat, though more of a vengeful spirit rather than an alive person as she had perished perviously, and was to be entombed in ice for five-hundred years, similiar to how a Crystal Stasis was done. Lightning knew if she didn't get to Noel in time, he wouldn't awaken for another five-hundred years and likely would have no memories of what he was doing or who his friends were. With Caius nowhere to be seen, Lightning headed to where Noel was to be entombed in his "cryogenic Crystal Stasis", as it was called. She had to fight through many waves of monsters and men, but she eventually made it to where the cryogenic chamber was at, and Jihl was standing between her and freeing Noel. Jihl smirked at Lightning with that same sadistic smile.

"Cutting it close, are we?" taunted Jihl. "At least 'Noel' will have that one memory of the Warrior Goddess who tried to save him before he went into 'Crystal Stasis'."

"Oh, I won't 'try' to save him..." said Lightning pointing her Gunblade at Jihl. "I WILL save him!"

"Ah," said Jihl. "I bet he'd be watching right now, but I doubt he's seeing good right now anyway..."

At that moment, a warning siren went off, and a digital voice announced the countdown to cryogenic Crystal Stasis. Lightning knew she had to get Noel out of the chamber before the clock reached zero, but she had to defeat Jihl as well. Lightning summoned up Odin, and together, they managed to defeat Jihl and her minions that she summoned in record time

Getting to the chamber, Lightning had Odin destroy the door before dimissing him. A very bluish-colored Noel fell out, but he was caught by Lightning. She looked at him.

"Easy there..." said Lightning. "I gotcha."

Noel's eyes, clouded over by the darkness about to take him, seemed to look up at Lightning as he mumbled something.

"S-sorry I didn't make it..." mumbled Noel before he passed out.

Lightning figured that Caius must've altered a time gate to send him to where Jihl was at so that he'd be frozen in time and wouldn't be able to help her sister. However, from what Lightning could sense, Serah was still okay. More than likely, she figured, Snow had somehow managed to make it back to Serah in time and was now with her trying to still help find Lightning. For now, though, Noel was the one needing help to survive, as if he went comatose, he wouldn't wake up for a while, and if he did, he would lose what memories he had of Serah, Snow, and Lightning. Lifting Noel's unconscious form into her arms, Lightning was surprised how easily she could carry him. She guessed with the abilities given to her by Etro, she had some new strength as well. Holding Noel in her arms, Lightning could feel just how cold he was against her warm skin that was exposed and knew that he didn't have much time before he went comatose. She didn't have much time and quickly opened up a time gate to get back to Valhalla. She'd also managed to find a thick blanket that she could use to warm Noel up as well. Lightning quickly stepped inside the time gate with Noel and soon made it back to Etro's Shrine.

Once there, Lightning wrapped Noel in the blanket she had and held him against her warm body. Lightning saw it wasn't warming him up fast enough. Closing her eyes, she could sense his vitals getting weaker and knew he didn't have much time left before he went comatose. Lightning looked at the crystal that contained the Goddess in it.

"Goddess Etro..." whispered Lightning. "Please, give me a vision on how to help me heal Noel... Please..."

Holding Noel, still wrapped in his blanket, in her arms, Lightning closed her eyes. She saw a vision of where she was using some Cure magic that was warm as well as her using her own body heat to help warm Noel up. Blushing some, Lightning laid Noel down on the ground and removed her armor since she decided that the metal wouldn't be able to help with the warming up process. She left her sleeveless black turtleneck, arm-length gloves, and leggings on before gathering Noel, in the blanket still, back into her arms and closing her eyes concentrating on the Cure magic. Sure enough, like in her vision, the Cure magic glowed softly and was warm to the touch as she held him in her arms nestled against her own warm body, slowly warming him back up. Smiling softly, Lightning placed a kiss on Noel's forehead.

"Come on, Noel..." she whispered. "Wake up for me... please..."

Noel's eyes slowly blinked open as he came out of his cryogenic gas-enduced unconsciousness, and they slowly cleared up revealing who was holding him. He was surprised, to say the least.

"L...Lightning?" said Noel. "What's going on? Where am I? And how come you're holding me?"

Lightning chuckled some. Noel had no idea what was going on.

"Well," started Lightning. "Jihl was trying to force you into a cryogenic 'Crystal Stasis', but I rescued you... As for where you're at... You're in Etro's Shrine in Valhalla."

She blushed some before continuing.

"As for why I'm holding you..." said Lightning. "You were pretty blue in color, so I tried to get you warmed up quickly with just a blanket I had found, but it wasn't working, so I asked Etro for help to heal you... She gave me a vision of how to warm you up using my Cure magic and my own body heat, so I removed my armor before doing so."

Noel nodded.

"Thanks, Lightning," said Noel. "I thought when I had headed into that time gate I headed into I would be heading to where Serah was at, but instead, I landed in an area and got surrounded by soldiers before that one person... 'Jihl Nabaat' showed up and stunned me. Next thing I knew, I was in that chamber and had that gas that was trying to put me to sleep and freeze me... I didn't know what would happen next or if I would get to see you again..."

Lightning, a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks, looked away. Noel was worried about seeing her again, and that struck a chord in her heart, but she wasn't ready to admit it just yet. Seeing Noel feeling okay, she sat him back down on the ground and got her armor back on. Noel looked at Lightning.

"I have a feeling that Caius knows I'm helping you now, so he's likely trying to get rid of me so that I can't help you," said Noel. "It looks like as long as that's the case, your sister will be safe, so I can concentrate on going after him instead."

"Just don't go charging in without using your head..." said Lightning. "That's what gets you killed."

Noel looks at her smiling some.

"You'll be right there beside me, right?" asked Noel.

"Of course," said Lightning before walking over and putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's gonna take a lot to get rid of me."

"Thanks..."

Noel suddenly feels a pain in his heart and falls down.

"W-what?" said Noel.

Lightning catches Noel before kneeling on the ground with him.

"Noel?" said a surprised Lightning.

Noel, in pain, looks at Lightning.

"L-Lightning..." said Noel. "Something's happening to... me..."

Noel is starting to fade away, as if he's a Paradox in the timeline. Lightning looks shocked at what's going on.

"Wha... What's happening?" said Lightning. "Noel!"

"L-Lightning..." said Noel as he was almost completely faded away. "Caius... he must've...he must've gone back... in time... to..."

Noel fades away before he can finish. Lightning was shocked and then mad about this.

"NOEL!" said Lightning. "Damn you, Caius... If you think I'll give up that easily, you've got another thing coming."

Lightning steps into the flow of time.

When Lightning steps out of the gate, she finds she's in a desolate world covered in sand and with large mountains off in the distance. Humanity's population was slowly dwindling due to continuous monster attacks, and one tribe still remains. This was the world Noel had grown up in, the one before he'd met Lightning and her friends, and it was in this time that there was a Paradox that had caused the Noel she knew to disappear... All she knew was that Caius was trying to get rid of Noel before he could meet up with her, and he'd do it any way possible... Even if it meant influencing his past self to leave Noel behind when he needed his friend and mentor the most... Lightning moves toward the village taking notice of the swift shadows in the distance.

"Nothing I can't handle. Now to find Noel..." said Lightning as she realized something. "But he doesn't even know me."

She soon spots Caius and Noel, but in this timeline, as she learned from Noel, Caius was his friend, but then... what would happen next would even surprise him... and would pave the way to the Paradox that had caused her Noel to disappear. Noel looks at Caius.

"So, where are we going, Caius?" asked Noel.

"We're heading to hunt down a pack of Behemoths that has been causing a lot of deaths in our village..." said Caius. "If you can help me defeat them, I may consider taking you under my wing and teaching you on how to become a Guardian."

Noel was surprised.

"Really?" said Noel. "Well, you can count on me!"

"Good..." said Caius. "Let's get going then..."

Caius heads off but takes a glance back as if he knew who was watching them. Lightning was surprised about this.

"Has Caius beaten me here?" said Lightning. "...One way to find out."

Lightning takes of after them just out of sight.

Soon they start coming across very recent tracks. Caius looks at Noel.

"We're on the right track. The Behemoths are heading this way," said Caius. "Be ready for anything."

"Right. Where are they?" asked Noel.

Caius points to an area that was off in the distance.

"Looks like they're on the other side of that ridge," said Caius. "You head on and cut them off. I'll keep them from heading back towards the village."

"Right! We'll keep them from getting back to the village!" said Noel.

Noel runs off. A small smirk plays on Caius's face as he heads through a black portal, leaving Noel to his apparent death... or so he thought.

"What is he..." started Lightning.

A distant growl interrupts her thought.

"No time!" said Lightning.

Lightning follows Noel, and they reach said ridge where they're greeted by the beasts, or at least a couple of them. Noel looks around spotting at least three of the beasts with a few more in the distance.

"Looks like I found them!" said Noel. "Better let Caius know!"

Noel cups his hands.

"Caius! I found them!" called Noel.

A novice mistake, which could get him killed, and he's surprised when Caius didn't show as the first three Behemoths charged at him.

"Caius?" said a surprised Noel.

Noel gets set to defend himself, but he knows he can't defeat them on his own.

"Always finding trouble," Lightning sighs.

She runs out to help Noel.

"Move!" said Lightning.

Lightning whips out her Gunblade and steps in front of Noel casting a series of spells bombarding the front line of creatures. Noel blinks.

"Who are you?" asked Noel. "I can take care of myself, you know!"

Noel dashes in attacking the Behemoths.

"Besides, if Caius isn't here, then I've gotta take down down these Behemoths by myself!" said Noel. "Some of them must've already gotten to the village!"

"Ha... Yeah right," said Lightning. "Well, I've got a feeling help's not on its way, so you're stuck with me."

Lightning cuts the Behemoths off on one side herding them towards Noel. Joining him, they move to strike them in one focused shot. Noel uses a Ruinaga staggering them, but they start to stand up.

"Damn! This isn't good!" said Noel.

Lightning launches one and uses a flourish of slashes, and as it comes down, it _luckily_ lands ontop of another leaving the perfect opening for Noel to strike.

"Take it, Noel!" said Lightning.

"Right!" said Noel.

Noel finishes them off then looks at the mysterious woman.

"How do you know my name?" asked Noel. "I've never met you before..."

Lightning looks away.

"It's a long story..." said Lightning before changing the subject. "But we better move on in case any Behemoths think they can take us by surprise."

"Yea... But, we can't let them get to the village!" said Noel. "If we do... even more will die, and I don't want to see any more people of my village perish... They're the only ones I've known in this empty world..."

Noel heads to another area keeping a watch for Behemoth tracks.

"Well what are their numbers like here?" asked Lightning. "Those three were pretty easy to take down. We'll just keep at 'em before they even think of reaching the village."

"There's about twenty-four of them in this one pack, and they'll typically stay in groups of two, except for the scouting party we just defeated, and their leader, a King Behemoth, which has two 'guards' with him..." said Noel. "They say he's lived ever since the day Cocoon's pillar crumbled! If he can be taken down, the others will leave."

"Let's get started then."

Noel nods.

"Follow me!" said Noel. "I can track them easily!"

Noel takes off again.

"Ok, lead the way..." said Lightning following Noel. "If we can herd them, we can keep them away from the village. Any suggestions?"

"There's a valley in between some mountains," said Noel. "If we can get them in there, they won't be able to head towards the village, and then we can take 'em!"

"Ok. If we split in a V formation and attack diagonally, this just might work."

Noel nods.

"Let's do this!" said Noel. "Though, I'm wondering where Caius went to..."

Noel heads off before Lightning can tell him.

"Please, let him stick to the plan..." said Lightning.

Both go on accordingly until they're met with their resulting Behemoth blockade.

Noel uses a few attacks getting his group to start moving, but he's unfortunately got the group with the King in it... and it's proving an issue.

"Damn! The King Behemoth!" said Noel.

Noel gets set.

"If I can take him, the others should leave!" said Noel.

Noel fights his group as best as he can but is being beaten down to his reserves before being KO'ed.

Lightning summons Odin.

"Let's go!" said Lightning.

However, the Behemoths hear a roar and head away from Lightning and Odin... Which was strange until she remembered what Noel told her about the King Behemoth.

"Lightning Strike!" said Lightning.

The creatures are trapped with some paralyzed, yet one still stands... the King. It's then that Lightning sees a still form in front of him.

"Noel!" gasped Lightning.

Lightning runs to him and gets in front of him in a protective stance. Noel obviously put up quite a fight, as the King Behemoth shows a lot of damage but is still fighting.

"Odin, keep it distracted!" said Lightning.

Lightning uses Raise on the barely stirring Noel. Noel starts to recover.

"Wha-? What happened?" said a dazed Noel.

Noel looks at Lightning.

"Don't tell me I got KO'ed by the King..." said Noel with an upset look on his face. "Caius would be laughing at me then..."

"Don't worry about that!" said Lightning. "Just get up!"

Noel does so. He looks around.

"What about the other Behemoths?" said Noel. "Have they been defeated?"

"No, just held off," said Lightning. "We don't have much time. We need to finish off the King!"

Noel nods.

"If we defeat him, the others will leave!" said Noel.

"Odin... Skyward Swing!" commanded Lightning.

The Eidolon charges and launches the King while Light jumps in with Flourish of Steel. Noel was still amazed at this woman and her Eidolon, though he was surprised.

"Wait... Is that... is that... ODIN?" said a startled Noel. "From the history of this planet?"

"Is this really the time?" asked Lightning. "Ok let's finish this thing... Zantetsuken!"

Noel watches, still a bit upset of his own ablities but gets set to attack again... That is if Lightning would let him, that is. Lightning looked over at Noel. She knew if she finished off the King, it might not solve the Paradox and that only Noel could defeat it. Thankfully, the Zantetsuken couldn't kill the King, but it left it weakened enough for Noel to kill. Lightning looked at Noel.

"Noel... Now's your chance!" said Lightning. "Hit it with all you've got!"

Noel nods and finishes it off with Meteor Javellin. With their King defeated, the other Behemoths retreat to past the mountains for now, but they'll be back someday. Lightning thought of something.

"So does this mean the Paradox is solved?" thought Lightning.

Lightning wonders.

Back where Lightning once was at, Noel started to fade back in.

"Wha-? What happened to me..?" asked Noel before he realizes something. "Lightning must've solved whatever caused me to fade away!"

Back at where Lightning was, she feels her Noel has returned.

"Return to the village. It should be safe now," said Lightning.

Noel nods.

"Thanks for your help!" said Noel. "I won't forget this!"

Noel heads off. Lightning opens the vortex.

Noel looks around and sees a portal opening.

"Lightning?" Noel asked.

Lightning goes up and hugs him.

"It worked... " said Lightning.

"Lightning... What happened?" asked Noel. "I felt myself slowly disappearing from time... Then, everything went dark, and the next thing I know... I'm back..."

"Caius..." said Lightning with a sigh. "It doesn't matter... I cut off his plan."

"Yea... But, I felt the past change as well... Could he be starting some more Paradoxes in the timeline?"

"It would seem so. He's trying to interrupt... your timeline."

"If that happens, I'll disappear completely... For some reason, when I felt that pain in my heart... It was like I could see the past as clear as day... seeing it changing... But, how can this be for me?"

Noel is nervous.

"I'm not... like Yeul... am I?" said Noel.

"I wouldn't think so...but didn't Serah think the same thing?" asked Lightning. "...Only time will tell, but I promise... I'll keep you safe."

Noel nods and winces again, a sure sign that the past is changing, but he's not fading away this time.

"We'd better get going then..!" said Noel. "He's starting again..!"

Noel tries to walk and stumbles some. Lightning catches him as he falls.

"Hold onto me, ok?" said Lightning. "Then maybe you'll be the link that'll take us to the Paradox."

Noel does so and holds out his hand as a portal opens to another time, this time in the Archylte Steppe.

"There..." Noel, a bit weak, said.

"Well, let's take a look around and see what we're dealing with," said Lightning.

Noel nods and stumbles a bit still a bit weak but notices something's different.

"Hey..." said Noel. "The last time I was here, we'd already taken care of the troubles here, but something's wrong..."

Just as he says that, the two are surrounded by Cie'th!

"Wha-?" said Lightning. "Noel, give it what you can!"

Noel nods.

"Right!" said Noel. "Good thing I still have some of the monster crystals from earlier!"

Noel sends out the Albino Lobo to help as well.

"Let's get this done!" said Lightning. "Thundaga!"

Noel was using his Commando role, but he was still weak from previously, which was affecting his performance. Lightning, keeping a close eye on Noel, strikes toward the closer group. Noel gets knocked backwards and hit with a few Wound attacks before he starts breathing heavily.

"We need to switch up things, and fast!" said Noel.

Noel decides to recall the Albino Lobo and switches in the Bunkerbeast, as he's about to collaspe from exhaustion and pants heavily.

"Let's see how that beast holds up," said Lightning.

Lightning goes to Noel hoping to heal him quicker with a Double Dose.

"He's held up against some pretty strong foes..." said Noel. "Kinda reminds me a bit of Snow, except not as talky."

Lightning smirks.

"I bet he's a bit easier to deal with than the 'hero'," said Lightning.

"Yea. I wanted to name him 'Snow', but Serah wouldn't let me, so I named him 'Garuda' instead," Noel says and uses a Wound Potion on himself. "Sorry I'm not much help at this moment, Lightning..."

"Don't worry about it..." said Lightning. "We'll take them down. "

Noel keeps healing himself.

"Once I'm healed, I'll be bringing out the Yakashini," said Noel. "He's a Synergist, so he'll soften these blows that I'm getting as well."

"It won't be much longer..." said Lightning. "Let's just get you boosted up and finish this."

Noel nods, recalls the Bunkerbest, and brings out the Yakashini while using his Ravager skills this time around.

"Let's finish them, Lightning!" said Noel.

Lightning raises her Gunblade and takes a running leap before slashing down the closest Cie'th. Noel uses a Thundaga Staggering a couple at the same time.

"They're almost defeated!" said Noel.

Lightning launches the Staggered Cie'th leaving Noel to help finish them off. Noel uses a flurry of spells finally finishing off the Cie'th, but he falls to his knees panting heavily. Something was wrong with him, but he couldn't understand what. Lightning turns back.

"What's wrong?" asked Lightning. "Is it like before?"

Noel tries to speak, but he passes out.

"Again? Noel..." said Lightning.

All of the sudden, a shimmering distortion in time could be seen, and a ghostly hand grabs Noel and pulls him inside.

"NOEL!" said Lightning.

Lightning follows using the time vortex to lock on his signature.

She arrives in the Bresha Ruins and sees that the Guardian Corps are trying to fight a large fal'Cie-looking creature. At first, it looked like the Pulse fal'Cie Titan, but Lightning remembered Noel telling her about another one named "Atlas" that they'd fought and had defeated... So the Paradox of him returning had to be related to Noel's disappearance earlier. One of the Guardian Corps also reported a civilian being trapped in the giant's hand as well.

"Now I have to take it down without hurting the civilian..." said Lightning. "Wait..."

A sudden shock of realization hit her.

_-Crap!-_ thought Lightning.

She summons out Odin.

"Odin! It must be Noel..." said Lightning.

Sure enough, Lightning could see Noel, unconscious, in the giant's hand likely being crushed. Obviously, it hadn't forgotten about its defeat at his and Serah's hands, so he was going to kill him.

"Watch it!" said Lightning tells Odin. "At the first sign, grab him if you can."

Odin nods, and they set off with Light on one side and Odin the other. They began using attacks on vital points focusing on either to distract or paralyze their opponent. Atlas tries to attack, but he can't with Noel in his hand, so he tosses him away before launching attacks at Lightning and Odin.

"To the right!" said Lightning.

Odin dodges and catches Noel, setting him out of sight before rejoining Light. While she's light on her feet dodging and attacking, she's still taking a couple hits. Seeing Noel safe, Lightning turns to Odin.

"Enough play time," said Lightning. "C'mon, together!"

Atlas launches some more attacks at the duo. Lightning attacks with Razor Gale showering Atlas with blades and then follows with Zantetsuken as the final blow. And once again, Atlas was defeated, resolving the Paradox, but Noel was still out.

Lightning dismisses Odin and runs to Noel before kneeling down next to him.

"Hey, we did it," said Lightning.

Lightning gently shakes Noel.

"Please wake up," said Lightning.

Noel wasn't waking up, though... He was still breathing, so she knew he was alive still. Lightning tries healing, but he only slightly stirs. Noel was slowly recovering, but he wasn't close to waking up... yet, at least. Lightning, leaning him in her lap, pulls Noel upright but doesn't know what to do since healing wasn't working.

"Please," said Lightning. "...I-I need your help..."

Lightning thinks back to times when Serah was sick and couldn't help but lean in and place a kiss on his forehead. Noel starts to stir moaning a bit.

"Nnnnn..." said Noel.

His eyes slowly start to blink open as he starts to recover consciousness. Lightning blinks, and the slightest tinge of pink appears on her cheekbones.

_-That worked?...-_ thought Lightning.

She smiled at Noel.

"Hey there," said Lightning.

"L-Lightning..?" said Noel as he holds his head and looks around. "What happened? Where am I?"

"Bresha Ruins, and you missed out on all the fun," said Lightning.

Noel blinks and notices something.

"Are you..." said Noel. "Are you... blushing?"

"W-what? No..." said Lightning trying to hide it. "So, are you ok?"

"Yea..." said Noel. "But, I saw a vision while I was out..."

"And...what was it?" asked Lightning.

"I know what's happened to most of my strength..." said Noel. "It's been sealed inside of Twilight Odin, one of the monsters we tamed a while back... He's been released back into the Vile Peaks when I disappeared, so if we can capture him again... I should be able to fight like I did before so we can finish taking care of these Paradoxes and then track down Caius."

"Let's not waste any time then... Hang on tight."

They open the Historia Crux. Noel nods.

Soon, they get to the forboding Vile Peaks, and Noel notices something about Lightning.

"Something wrong, Lightning?" asked Noel.

"Hm..?" said Lightning. "No... It's nothing."

"Hey, come on... You can tell me," said Noel. "After all, if I kept my emotions inside of me, I'd possibly have ended up just like Caius... or worse."

"I...I just thought about when I was still a l'Cie... fighting Odin and all..."

Noel puts his hand on Lightning's shoulder.

"Yea... Your sister told me about that battle, and when we first saw Twilight Odin, I thought it WAS Odin back then until I remembered you still had Odin with you..." said Noel. "For Serah and myself... it was like we were reliving something that you had faced so long ago..."

"...Funny how it was all for her in the first place..." Lightning said and sighed. "I never wanted Serah to experience anything like this..."

"Trust me... Even though we had to face Twilight Odin... when captured, he became one of our greatest allies fighting Caius..." said Noel. "In a sense, it was like we were fighting alongside Odin just as you were, Lightning."

"I guess it's all for the better then," said Lightning with a slight smile on her face. "Oh well. You know where to find him?"

Noel nods.

"Yea! Follow me!" said Noel.

Noel runs off following a trail he remembered from a while back, but even so, they still had monsters to contend with, which was nothing they couldn't handle. Eventually, the two come upon a tall, dark, and currently Thunder-weilding figure.

"There he is!" said Noel.

Suddenly, as soon as Twilight Odin dropped down, he casted Doom on Noel.

"Damn! Not good!" said Noel.

"And there's the deja vu..." said Lightning. "Hurry and throw some combos!"

Noel does so and sends out the Bunkerbeast.

"We didn't fight him THIS way LAST TIME!" said Noel.

"Well apparently things have changed," said Lightning. "Time to put on a show... You have to make him yield to you."

"How do I do THAT?"

Lightning gets knocked back by a wave of lightning.

"Show him what you can do!" said Lightning.

Noel uses some of his Ravager skills and looks at Lightning.

"You okay?" asked Noel.

_-I'm going to regret this...-_ thought Lightning.

Lightning "accidentally" misses a dodge and takes a direct hit.

"Lightning!" yelled Noel and switches and heals her. "Tell me you're okay..."

Lightning feels a slight sting but is able to stand.

"I'm fine," said Lightning. "Just keep it up... A couple more chain attacks should do it."

"But, you're hurt..." Noel said worriedly.

Lightning winces.

"Just go!" said Lightning.

Noel goes back to launching some attacks.

"Just be okay, please!" said Noel. "I'm not about to lose a friend of mine to this thing!"

Twilight Odin's just about ready to submit, and Noel can feel it.

"Come on..." said Noel.

Finally, Noel knows Twilight Odin's ready to submit.

"Let's do this!" said Noel.

Twilight Odin transforms into a dark version of Slepnir, and Noel grabs the twin swords and hops on his back before he rears up and whinnies.

"I did it!" cheered Noel.

"See? Piece of cake," said Lightning.

Lightning feels a sear of pain in her side and falls to her knees.

"Lightning!" gasped Noel.

Noel dismisses both the Bunkerbeast and Twilight Odin before running over to her.

"You're hurt... and it's my fault..." said Noel.

Tears streamed down his face as he casts Curaga on Lightning.

"Noel... I had to do it," said Lightning before she reaches up and wipes away some tears. "It was the only real way I could help..."

Noel shakes his head and gives Lightning a kiss on her cheek.

"But, I don't want to see someone else I care for get hurt because of something I didn't want to do..." said Lightning.

Lightning, a bit dumbfounded, blinks.

"It wasn't anything you could've avoided," said Lightning. "Just help me up, and we'll figure out what to do next."

Noel helps her up.

"With Twilight Odin back with me, I'm back to my full strength again," said Noel.

An omninous voice speaks up.

"Really now?" said the voice. "Then I guess I should see if you're ready to kill me now."

"When am I not?" Lightning says and glares around to find the source.

Standing on top of another peak, a figure with a broadsword can be seen. A lightning bolt flashes behind him, revealing it to be none other than Caius. Noel snarls some.

"Caius!" said Noel.

Caius smirks.

"Why don't you just leave the Warrior Goddess there and come face me?" taunts Caius. "She can see just how weak you are compared to me."

"One thing I'm not, Caius, is weak..." said Noel. "And I'm going to stop you to put the timeline back in order!"

"Really now? Then I guess I'll have to go ALL OUT on you!"

Caius transforms into Chaos Bahamut.

"Damn!" said Noel. "This isn't good!"

Noel looks at Lightning. She'd been injured by the previous battle, and Noel knew that if Caius attacked now, she could be injured more. He had to do something and kissed Lightning on her cheek.

"I'll be back..." said Noel. "Once I take care of Caius, that is!"

Before Lighting could say anything else, Noel had summoned out Twilight Odin once again and had him turn into his Gestalt Mode before leaping on and racing away from her. Chaos Bahamut followed him, and Lightning looked shocked.

"Is Noel going to take out Caius all on his own?" thought Lightning. "No! I've got to HELP HIM!"

Using her strongest Curagas, Lightning healed herself and summoned out Odin before having him transform into his Gestalt Mode and getting on. She got her Gunblade out again and looked at Odin.

"Let's go to where Noel is right now!" said Lightning.

Slepnir reared up and whinnied before galloping off, and Lightning could only hope that she got there in time.

Meanwhile, Noel was still having to dodge attacks from Chaos Bahamut while trying to get in some attacks. However, his attacks were doing little to the dragon, and Noel figured it was because he was still training to get his skills back fully. Suddenly, Twilight Slepnir whinnied, reared up, and stopped, and Noel looked to see why. They had reached the entrance to a large canyon, virtually causing them to be trapped, as the only way to escape would be to get past Chaos Bahamut somehow, which at that point, looked near impossible... Or did it? As Noel got set for the battle, Chaos Bahamut was hit with a powerful Thundaga attack, stunning him momentarily. Then Noel heard Lightning's voice.

"Noel, come on while he's stunned!" said Lightning.

Noel nodded and spurred Twilight Slepnir racing past the stunned Chaos Bahamut making back to where Lightning was at. Noel sighed and looked at her.

"Lightning?" said Noel. "Why'd you come? You're INJURED!"

"Not any more I'm not," said Lightning. "Besides, remember what I said about not leaving your side no matter what?"

Just then, Chaos Bahamut was freed from the paralysis and roared at the two. Lightning looked at Noel.

"Ready?" asked Lightning.

"You know it," said Noel.

The two soon started to battle Chaos Bahamut on the backs of their Eidolons. Noel still was trying to get in some attacks on Chaos Bahamut, but it kept dodging them. He looked a bit annoyed.

"Darnit!" said Noel. "Bastard won't stay still!"

"Control your emotions!" Lightning snapped at him causing Noel to get surprised.

Lightning sighed and looked at Noel.

"Sorry I had to snap at you," said Lightning. "But if you don't control your emotions, you'll keep messing up."

Noel nods and calms down finally managing to get some hits on Chaos Bahamut. Noel launches another flurry of attacks. Within about thirty minutes, Chaos Bahamut transforms back into Caius and disappeared. However, he wasn't done with Noel yet, not by a longshot. Noel looked at Lightning.

"You think that's it?" asked Noel.

"Don't know," said Lightning. "We'd better be careful just in case."

Noel nodded, and the two dismissed their Eidolons before heading on.. Suddenly, Noel thought he'd sensed something and ran ahead of Lightning. She tried to catch up but was blocked by some monsters, which she would have to take care of first. Lightning, fighting the monsters, hoped that nothing had happened to Noel. She would soon find out his sad fate.

Noel looked around but didn't see what he'd sensed and realized Lightning wasn't there, so he decided to get back to her. Just as Noel was about to head on, he felt something strike him in back, and something came out his chest. Looking down through blurred eyes, he saw the pointed end of a sword, and a big sword like that... Caius'. Noel let out one strangled cry before the darkness took him.

Lightning, hearing Noel's strangled cry, snarls at the creatures.

"Get. Outta. My. Way!" said Lightning.

Lightning feels a surge of power and charges forward, only needing to strike with a few more hits before the group of monsters go down.

"Hold on," said Lightning. "I'm coming!"

When Lightning got to where Noel was at, she was shocked at what she saw. Noel, limp, was stabbed through by Caius' large broadsword. Caius, smirking at Lightning, slid his sword out of Noel letting him limply fall to the ground before disappearing in a portal of Chaos. Lightning, shocked, ran over to Noel.

"NOEL!" cried Lightning getting to his still form.

She lifted him up into a sitting posistion holding him in her arms and crying. Blood flowed from his wounds, and he was fading fast. She had said that she'd protect Noel, yet Caius had managed to stab Noel on through, and he was fading fast. Suddenly, Lightning felt some light on her and looked up into the sky. She saw a large glowing gate and was shocked.

"Etro's Gate?" said Lightning.

She knew that Etro was calling Noel to her which meant that he was dying. Tears flowed from her eyes as she still held Noel's limp form next to her as the blood still flowed from the wound that had been dealt to him.

"Noel..." said Lightning. "Please... come back to me..."

Noel, meanwhile, soon found himself floating in darkness between life and death, and he opened his eyes.

"Uhhhh..." said Noel.

He looked around and couldn't see anything or anyone, and this got him nervous.

"Hey!" said Noel. "Where am I?"

Noel tried to think back at what had happened and suddenly realized something.

"I was stabbed through..." said Noel with a gasp. "Does this mean I'm dead? No! I don't want to leave! Not now! If I do... it'll break Lightning's heart!"

It was then that Noel "heard" a soothing voice, the voice of the Goddess Etro. Noel blinked at this.

"Etro?" said Noel. "Etro, please! Don't take me yet! I've still got so much to live for and one who cares deeply for me!"

He then "heard" Etro ask him a question. Noel blinked some.

"What do I want to do?" repeated Noel. "I want to save the world from Caius and live my life out with Lightning! I don't want to leave her because I KNOW she cares about me!"

Etro soon "told" Noel what had to be done to bring him back to the world of the living. Noel learned that before he could return, his body would have to be healed and that she would bring Lightning's spirit to the "dream world" he was in so that he could tell her. Noel nodded.

"Thanks, Etro," said Noel.

Back in the living world where Lightning was still holding Noel's limp form and crying, and she closed her eyes some trying to see if she could see a vision about how to bring back Noel. She wasn't going to accept that he was dying. Opening them up once again, Lightning saw that she was in Valhalla and looked around as she got up, as Noel wasn't in her arms any more, so she figured she was in a "dream world" version of Valhalla... but why had she been brought there? As Lightning looked around, Noel faded in, and Lightning's eyes filled with tears. Had Etro brought her here to say her last good-byes to Noel? Noel walked over to Lightning and gave her a kiss on her cheek before looking at her.

"Hey..." said Noel. "I wish I could've prevented what happened to me, but I guess I wasn't fast enough..."

"Noel..." said Lightning. "Is this... is this our final good-bye?"

Noel shook his head.

"Actually, I was just 'talking' with Etro," said Noel. "She said I didn't have to stay here until I was ready to come here. After all, you wouldn't be happy with me doing so at all."

"Damn straight I wouldn't..." said Lightning. "But then, why was I called here then?"

"She 'said' I could come back, but my body has to be healed first before she can put my spirit back inside of it..."

"I'll do it," said Lightning. "I'm not going to let something as having Caius stab you through and trying to take you away from me stop me from getting you back."

"Thanks," said Noel. "You might have to give my brain a 'shock' to get me to wake up though."

Lightning chuckled softly.

"Oh, I can do that," said Lightning. "Believe me, I can easily do that."

"Thanks," said Noel. "Time's growing short before you have to leave to start getting my body ready for me to come back."

Lightning nodded and kissed Noel on his lips as her eyes closed and she went back to her own body. When she opened her eyes, Lightning knew that Noel didn't have a lot of time before he'd have to stay at Valhalla, so she laid Noel down on the ground. Lightning looked at Noel's still form.

"Now, let's get you healed up so that you can come back to the living," said Lightning.

Using her strongest Curagas on Noel, Lightning watched as his wound slowly healed up, but within a few minutes of the constant healing, it was completely healed. At the same time, Etro guided Noel's spirit back into his body, and Lightning checked to see if Noel was alive. She felt a strong pulse and sighed.

"There we go..." said Lightning.

She then felt for Noel's breathing and found that while slow at first, it was getting stronger with each second, but he wasn't waking up yet. Lightning blushed some.

"You really want me to give your brain a 'shock', huh?" whispered Lightning. "Well, I guess I do owe you that much, since you've definitely stirred something in my heart."

Lightning got ready to kiss Noel and leaned over to him before pressing her lips against his, which had a slight tinge of hardness to them because they were a male's lips, in a long and gentle kiss. Lightning soon felt Noel's body jerk some and knew that he'd wake up soon. She released the pressure on his lips breaking the kiss and sat there waiting for him to wake up. Noel's eyes slowly blinked open, and he softly smiled at Lightning as he came around.

"Well," Noel said softly, "when you said you can easily give my brain a 'shock'... you weren't kidding."

Lightning smiled though there were tears in her eyes still as she lifted him into a sitting posistion and hugged him some.

"Welcome back to the living world, Noel..." said Lightning.

"Thanks," said Noel. "We still gotta take down Caius though."

"Yea, but I'm not ever going to let you out of my sight again," said Lightning. "I don't want to lose you again."

Noel nodded, and Lightning got up and helped Noel stand up. They then went looking for the next time gate that could likely take them to where Caius was at.

Finding the time gate, Lightning and Noel headed into it and found themselves back in the time when Academia was overrun with Cie'th. Suddently, they hear a scream, which both reconize.

"? Lightning, did you hear that?" said Noel.

Lightning, ignoring Noel's calls behind her, takes off running.

"Lightning!" said Noel.

Noel follows her but gets separated by some Cie'th that separate them.

"Damn!" said Noel.

Noel calls on Twilight Odin.

"Help me out!" said Noel.

Lightning continues quickly cutting down any Cie'th in her path eventually summoning Odin to make quick of things. After the next group, he morphs, and Light jumps onto his back.

Meanwhile, Noel is fighting the Cie'th keeping him from continuing with help from Twilight Odin and thinks of what Lightning told him about Caius messing with her sister.

"Damn! Lightning's still injured some, and if she gets to Caius, she could get hurt more!" said Noel. "I've GOT to find her!"

Noel looks to Twilight Odin.

"Let's finish this!" said Noel.

Twilight Odin transforms into Twilight Slepnir, and Noel hops on his back before using Zantetsuken to finish off the Cie'th. He looks around.

"Now, where's Lightning at..?" said Noel. "She couldn't have gotten far..."

Lightning sees a few fleeing citizens while others amongst them turn in Cie'th, and in a moment she's surrounded.

"Stay the hell out of my way!" said Lightning.

Lightning snarls and casts a lightning shower knocking then down one after another. When she looks up, she hears the scream again.

"Serah, I'm coming..." said Lightning. "Hold on!"

Noel soon spots someone up ahead of him. It looks like Lightning.

"Lightning..?" said Noel.

The figure takes off surprising Noel. Noel looks at Twilight Slepnir.

"Come on! We can't lose her!" said Noel.

Twilight Slepnir takes off after the figure. Noel manages to catch up with "Lightning"... who's not in her armor that she was in earlier. Noel blinks.

"Lightning? What's with the armor change?" asked Noel.

The fake "Lightning" smirks.

"You are easily fooled, Noel..." said the fake "Lightning".

Noel blinks.

"Wha-?" said Noel. "Lightning, what are you talking about?"

The fake "Lightning" fades away revealing none other than Caius.

"A pity..." said Caius. "The Warrior Goddess thought I was going after her sister, when in fact... I was using the illusion to separate you from her."

"Damn you!" snarled Noel.

"Now, let's see how you do without her!"

Caius launches an attack at Noel, who has already dismissed Twilight Odin and dodges the attack.

"Not this time, Caius!" said Noel.

Noel and Caius are battling each other with neither backing down. Caius was quite impressed.

"It seems as though I was wrong about saying you weren't my successor..." said Caius.

"Heh!" said Noel. "And pretty soon, Caius... I'll show you Yeul's last vision and what she wanted!"

"Really now?" taunted Caius. "Aren't you worried about your Warrior Goddess? She must've found the 'surprise' I left her.'

Noel was taken aback.

"Wha-what?" said Noel.

Caius uses that to his advantage and hits Noel hard causing him to cough up some blood.

"You'll see... IF you can make it to her before she's killed, that is!" said Caius before laughing and leaving through a portal.

"Damn!" cursed Noel.

Noel holds his side from where he got hit and calls on Twilight Odin having him turn into Twilight Slepnir.

"Let's get to Lightning!" said Noel.

Noel rides off to find her and hopes he's not too late...

Lightning looks back while Slepnir continues on.

"Where is he anyway?" asked Lightning.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the form of her sister appearing on a not too far off skywalk admist a hoard of Cie'th. Bounding up and off the bordering buildings, she makes it to Serah, who was in her normal outfit.

"Move!" said Lightning.

Lightning takes up a defensive stance in front of "Serah" and then springs forward countering every hit and throwing it back with double the force. But as the creatures vanish, a shadow grows behind her. She notices too late as she's struck to the ground.

"Serah," gasps Lightning.

She gasps for air as she realizes the trap she just waltzed into.

"I...I was a fool," said Lightning suddenly thinking of something. "Wait... I have to find Noel..."

Lightning winces as as darkness clouds her eyes.

"Please be...okay," Lightning whispers before passing out.

Noel charges in on Twilight Slepnir.

"Lightning!" yelled Noel.

Noel reconizes the monster.

"Damn! That Faeryl's from the Steppe, but how...?" said Noel before realizing something. "? Caius must've brought it here!"

Noel leaps off of Twilight Slepnir having him transform back into Twilight Odin before sending out the Bunkerbeast to guard Lightning from any attacks.

"Let's take this thing down!" said Noel.

Noel uses his Ravager skills as Twilight Odin attacks the beast. Noel keeps fighting the Faeryl even though he's injured and gets knocked back some. He coughs up some blood.

"D..damnit... Should've healed first..." said Noel as he winced some.

Noel looks over to where Lightning was still being guarded by the Bunkerbeast.

"But if I had... Lightning might've been... killed..." said Noel panting heavily. "...and I promised... I wouldn't let any else... I cared for... die..."

Noel gets up and rushes back in before attacking once again.

Lightning fights to open her eyes because she has a sense of what's happening. When she finally slightly can, it's better than she could've hoped... Noel was still standing. Carefully, she makes it up to a kneeling position which was good enough to shoot some sniper attacks at the Faeryl. Noel still fights not knowing Lightning has woken up and gets knocked back again coughing up some blood. He was on the verge of passing out, but he wasn't while Lightning was hurt... Almost like a certain "hero" Lightning knew. Lightning groans.

"Damn heroes not knowing when to quit," said Lightning.

Lightning summons Odin and with all she can muster. She runs forward, and Odin gives a hand, launching her above the Dragon, poised just perfectly so she came crashing down with a blaze piercing straight through the beast. Noel blinks some as he staggers a bit.

"L-Lightning..!" Noel says before he coughs some. "You're okay!"

Noel finally passes out from his injuries he substained both fighting the Faeryl and Caius as both Faeryl died and his two beasts disappeared.

Cold rain fell washing the blood off him and falling on his brown hair. Despite this, he'd likely saved Lightning from certain death when he came in earlier, though she likely wouldn't remember that. Lightning makes her way next to him. She proceeds to begin healing them both.

"What were you thinking..." said Lightning before thinking of something. "What am I saying... I fell for this. My own sister... I should've known it was a trick."

Noel's eyes blink open as he tries to focus them.

"Hey, at least you weren't fooled by what Caius had turned into... a copy of you, but without your armor... He had the previous version of you then," Noel said and weakly chuckles. "I should've known it was a trap, but I guess I was too blinded worrying about what had happened to you... And, he taunted me saying that he'd left you a 'surprise' before hitting me hard and then leaving, so I knew I had to get to you fast... That's when I saw you passed out in front of the Faeryl, and I knew I had to protect you to keep you from being killed..."

Noel coughs some as a bit of blood came out of his mouth.

"I should've healed myself first... but I couldn't... knowing you were in danger..." said Noel.

"Stupid... Worrying about me," said Lightning as she shakes her head.

Noel, finally healed, sighs and manages to get up before walking.

"I guess what I said while I was fighting the Faeryl wouldn't have mattered even if I wasn't injured..." said Noel with a bit of a sigh.

Noel, a bit heartbroken, walks off and heads to find Caius... He didn't have a reason to stay around anymore.

"Noel..." Lightning said concernedly before getting up. "Noel, wait!"

Lightning's face flushes as she runs after him. She grabs his hand when she catches up.

"Hm?" said Noel looking at her. "What is it?"

"I..I didn't mean it like that," said Lightning.

Lightning, surprised by both her action and her words, looks down.

"Hm?" said Noel. "What do you mean, Lightning?"

Lightning tries to ignore the thumping behind her chestplate and exhales.

"Damn... I don't know what I'm supposed to say..." said Lightning.

Noel cocks his head from one side to the other.

"Hm?" said Noel.

He's trying to not blush from her holding his hand. Lightning clears her throat.

"I mean..." started Lightning. "I'm glad I have you."

In a blink, she moves in to kiss his cheek. Noel was surprised about this. A startled Noel notices the movement and turns toward her just in time for her lips to make contact...with his. Noel was very surprised at this.

Eyes widened, Lightning breaks apart immediately turning away to hide the new scarlet color of her face.

"...Sorry. I didn't..." started Lightning.

Lightning becomes too flustered for words. Noel gently hugs her to him.

"Hey..." said Noel. "Just as you promised to protect me, I'll always be there to protect you... Now and forever."

Lightning, avoiding his gaze, nods.

"Thank you," said Lightning.

Noel breaks away from her.

"But, if you still need time with your feelings, I'll understand," said Noel.

_-Ah, to hell with it,-_ thought Lightning.

Lightning doesn't respond other than taking back his hand and lacing their fingers together.

"I guess we better get back to those Paradoxes..." said Lightning.

Noel nods.

"Let's find the gate here and find out where we're heading next," said Noel.

As they get to the next gate, Noel feels a pain in his chest again as he sees a vision. Lightning sees Noel's reaction and moves her free hand to his shoulder.

"Noel?" asked Lightning. "What is it?"

Noel looks at her with sad eyes.

"Caius is heading back in time to where you and your friends are..." said Noel. "He's trying to take you out this time!"

"Wait... If it's far back enough..." said Lightning with horror in her voice. "Vanille and Fang!"

"Not to mention the rest of you guys as well, including Hope and yourself! Then, the timeline would totally be messed up!"

"And Cocoon would be doomed. We have to get moving!"

Lightning opens up the vortex.

"Right!" said Noel.

Noel heads into the portal with Lightning.

"I'm not losing anyone to that bastard Caius!" said Noel.

They soon make it to the tower and head inside. They can hear in the distance Snow talking.

Before Noel moves out, Lightning pulls him back.

"Wait..." said Lightning. "You might have to do this one alone..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Noel.

Think about it. There can't be two Lightnings. If they see me, we'll just be creating another Paradox, and I don't think that's something we want to do."

Noel nods.

"Yea... I'll have to be careful I'm not spotted either..." said Noel before he kisses Lightning on her cheek. "Wish me luck, okay?"

Lightning blushes.

"Good luck," said Lightning. "I'll try to help the best I can."

"Thanks," said Noel. "Hopefully, I'll get it done quick and be back before they know I'm even there."

"Be careful... "

Noel nods and leaps through to Taejin's Tower.

"Well, here I am..." said Noel. "I just hope I can get through here without doing the trials, since that'd mess up the past as well..."

Noel runs inside and does his best to make it to the top of tower before the past Lightning and her group makes it there.

Soon, the past Lightning and her group made it to Taejin's Tower. Fang looked at the others.

"Once we get through this tower, we'll be at Oerba," said Fang.

"Well, let's get this over with," said the past Lightning.

"I'm ready!" said Hope.

Further up, Noel is still heading up the tower and looks down momentarily to see the group down at the bottom.

_-? Dang! They're already here!-_ thought Noel. _-I gotta kick it up a notch to get to Caius before they do!-_

Noel heads on trying to not make that much noise.

The past Lightning hears a noise above them.

_-Of course a fiend would find its way in here,-_ thought the past Lightning.

She looks at the others.

"Keep an eye out," said the past Lightning. "We might not be alone."

"Well, considering a fal'Cie lives here, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a few surprises around here," said Fang.

Hope looks nervous about that. Meanwhile, Noel is taking on a Tyrant, and of course the battle has quite a bit of noise going on... something not missed by the group down below.

"Sounds like something is definitely going on up above us..." said Fang.

"I'll go on ahead and check it out," said the past Lightning.

The past Lightning soon leaves the group behind as she comes upon the scene of a boy in a one-on-one fight with a Tyrant. Noel blasts the Tyrant with a Thundaga attack and dodges the Centurian Blade not realizing that one of the group had already made it up there.

"What the?" said the past Lightning.

The past Lightning runs in and does just enough hits to help Stagger it. Noel launches it up into the air and uses some Thundagas to finish it off.

"Whew! What a workout!" said Noel.

The past Lightning keeps her Gunblade out and ready as she eyes up the stranger.

"You don't look like you're from the Sanctum..." said the past Lightning. "Who are you?"

Noel reconizes it as Lightning's voice and quickly thought of something.

"Me?" said Noel. "I'm just a traveller through here, trying to finish my Focus. It's at the top of this tower."

Noel looked at the past Lightning hoping she'd believe his story, since his Lightning couldn't influence her past self as Caius did his.

_-Damn, don't let me have messed up there,-_ thought Noel.

He looked at the past Lightning.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Noel.

"Another l'Cie, huh?" said the past Lightning raising an eyebrow. "You'd think we'd heard of you by now."

The past Lightning moves closer not losing her defensive eye.

"All of Cocoon knows about us," said the past Lightning.

Noel quickly thought back to what his Lightning had told him about the Purge and knew that he had to use that to convince the past Lightning.

"Well, I was one who got sent down here three years ago..." said Noel with a sigh. "My father was marked but couldn't complete his and turned into a Cie'th... So I promised myself if I ever became a l'Cie... my Focus would be to put him out of his misery... He's at the top of this tower, and unless he's defeated by me... Your group can't finish the missions here."

"...All right," said the past Lightning as she stows her Gunblade and crosses her arms. "We can help."

Noel shakes his head.

"I've got to do this alone. You'll know I've completed my Focus when you reach the top, as we'll both be gone then, okay?" said Noel. "I promised my father I'd face him alone, and I can't break that promise to him."

"Fine then..." said the past Lightning. "Just make it quick. None of us have much time left."

Noel nods.

"Same here..." said Noel.

Noel runs off heading for the top.

_-Lightning, I know you're watching, so help me get to the top, and fast!-_ thought Noel.

Sometime after Noel had left the floor and headed for the top, Fang and the others caught up with the past Lightning.

"So, what did you find out, Lightning?" asked Fang.

As soon as Noel was out of "other" Light's sight, Lightning swooped down on Slepnir not stopping as she grabbed Noel's arm and hoisted him up behind her.

"Nice cover," said Lightning with a smirk.

"Well, how was I supposed to explain how I could use magic?" asked Noel.

"At least she wasn't suspecious enough to ask about your brand... " said Lightning. "That definitely would've presented a problem."

"Yea... How many floors are they from the top? Can you tell?"

"Seems about three..."

"Great... And with their pace, they'll make it to the final battle and Caius within the next hour or so..." said Noel with a sigh. "I thought I had more time, Lightning..."

"Don't worry. We'll make this work."

"I hope so... I told your past self that by the time she and the others reached the top, we'd be gone... But knowing how Caius fights and how he can revive himself, that might not be so easy..."

"Not this time... not with us both at full health. We can take him down."

"Right! Let's do this then!"

They make it to the top, and sure enough, Caius was there, but this time, he once again transformed into Chaos Bahamut, determined to bring the tower down on the past Lightning and her group. If Noel didn't want his Lightning to disappear, he and his Lightning would have to defeat Chaos Bahamut before it could damage the tower. Chaos Bahamut roared, startling the group down below.

"What the heck was that?" asked Hope.

"Seems like something up there's come out to play..." said the past Lightning. "Let's not keep it waiting."

"Right," said Fang.

The group heads on. Just as they're about to reach the stairs, a large piece of debris seals off where they were heading.

"Damn! Looks like we can't get through this way!" said Fang.

Hope looks at the past Lightning.

"Any ideas, Light?" asked Hope.

"Let's find a way around it..." said the past Lightning. "If that doesn't work, we make our own."

Meanwhile at the Cloven Spire, Noel smirked at Chaos Bahamut.

"Really? Every time, you think you need to resort to this?" taunted Noel. "Come on, Caius! If you're a man, why don't you fight us WITHOUT becoming Chaos Bahamut!"

Chaos Bahamut roars and takes a swipe at Noel, who dodges.

"Missed yet again, Caius!" said Noel. "I think you're getting SLOWER!"

With Chaos Bahamut's attention on Noel, he'd left himself open for attacks.

_-Nice plan, Noel,-_ thought Lightning.

Lightning smirks before rounding the side and striking Chaos Bahamut from behind. Chaos Bahamut roars in pain and tries to take a strike at Lightning, but Noel Provokes him in his Sentinel role.

"Hey! Your fight's with ME, Caius!" said Noel.

Lightning summons a series of powerful lightning strikes as the creature is once again distracted. Chaos Bahamut uses Metamorphosis and transforms into its aerial form using some more powerful attacks on Noel finishing with a Megaflare. Noel breathes heavily.

"Okay, THAT hurt for certain..." said Noel breathing a bit heavily. "But I'm still standing..."

Noel breathes heavily once again.

_-Barely...-_ thought Noel.

Lightning summons Odin.

"Go stay near Noel..." said Lightning. "Let's keep this going!"

Noel use a Potion on himself and then goes into Mediguard.

_-Come on, Lightning!-_ thought Noel. _-We've gotta knock him down faster so he'll transform or leave!-_

Chaos Bahamut transforms back into his more physical form and launches some more devistating attacks on Noel, but with his Sentinel ablities, he's surviving.

"Hit him from all sides!" said Lightning.

Lightning creates a wall of attacks covering her side with Odin to reflect from another. Chaos Bahamut uses an ablity to resist Thunder attacks. Noel finally is able to join in and starts using Wind attacks on Chaos Bahamut.

"He should be almost ready to fall soon, Light!" said Noel.

Odin begins to attack directly, and Light charges Firaga. Chaos Bahamut goes after Lightning now.

"Watch out, Lightning!" said Noel.

Now, Lightning would have to keep Chaos Bahamut from attacking Noel. She nodded to Noel.

"Got it..." said Lightning. "Odin, let's go!"

Odin transforms into Slepnir, and Light jumps onto his back. Chaos Bahamut goes after Lightning and attacks. Noel charges his attacks waiting for Lightning to draw Chaos Bahamut into the area again. Lightning nods towards Noel and sends attacks at Chaos Bahamut baiting him along. Noel summons out Twilight Odin and looks at him.

"Get ready!" said Noel. "When I tell you to launch me, launch me!"

Twilight Odin nods and gets set to launch Noel when he says to. Slepnir reaches Twilight Odin and leaps around him leaving the perfect opening.

"Now!" said Noel.

Twilight Odin launches Noel high in the air above Chaos Bahamut. Charging power into his Javellin, Noel launches a devistating Meteor Javellin at Chaos Bahamut. Chaos Bahamut roars and disappears in a flurry of Chaos. Noel gets caught by Twilight Odin who places him back on the ground.

"Nice catch, Twilight Odin," said Noel.

Lightning dismisses Odin.

"Well done," said Lightning. "Now, let's move before the others get here."

Noel nods and feels something.

"Caius is back in Valhalla..." said Noel. "He's heading for Etro's Shrine!"

Lightning opens the time gate.

"Get in," said Lightning. "We have to hurry!"

Noel nods and hops inside. The gate opens, and Light finds herself in front of Etro's Shrine, but looking around, she finds she's alone.

"Noel...?" said Lightning.

Noel lands on the beach on the outskirts of Valhalla and looks around.

"Lightning..?" said Noel. "Lightning, where are you?"

Caius appears in front of him with his sword raised.

"Your Warrior Goddess is at Etro's Shrine, where I will head next after I kill you..." taunted Caius. "Or will you kill me? The victor and the fate of the loser will be decided with this battle!"

Noel gets his weapons ready.

"Bring it on, Caius!" said Noel.

The two clash swords and launch spells at each other, and from where Lightning is, she can hear the battle as well.

"Noel!" said Lightning. "Another trick... Caius."

Slepnir appears, and they take off to the sounds of the ongoing fight.

The two continue fighting, and Caius has made it where an impenitrable barrier is up around the area where no one can get in or out until one of them was killed. Noel has managed to buff himself, but even so, he's still taking a lot of damage from Caius's attacks. He quickly heals himself and keeps fighting determined to save the future and be with Lightning once again. Caius was impressed with Noel's skills, as he'd improved greatly. Still, he wouldn't give one inch as he wanted to see if Noel would finally kill him this time around.

Lightning finally sees the two but runs into a barrier with no visible way through. Caius smiles knowing that Lightning can't get through to help Noel. Now, she would either watch her lover get killed... or see him transformed into a Guardian or kill the Goddess. Lightning, desperate and knowing she can only stand back and watch, tries to break the shield unsuccessfully.

Noel was getting tired but managed to launch a final attack at Caius, striking him in the Heart of Chaos. But instead of it being destroyed, the Chaos itself enveloped Noel, transforming him into a Guardian as he screamed out in pain. Caius was dead, but what price had Noel paid to safeguard the future? As the Chaos finished transforming him and placing the Heart of Chaos inside of his chest, Noel faintly heard running footsteps in the sand behind him before passing out falling towards the sand as the barrier vanished around him.

"NOEL!" yelled Lightning.

Lightning runs to Noel catching him as he collapsed before wrapping her arms around him.

"Noel..." said Lightning. "You did it. He's gone."

Noel doesn't wake up, and Light can see the pulsating Heart of Chaos in his chest and knows what he did. At the same time, Chaos starts wrapping around Noel starting to make him disappear, as he was its new controller, just as Caius was before him.

"Wait... No!" Lightning gasps. "Noel, please... don't go. You have to fight it!"

The Chaos was trying to take him, but Lightning knew that Etro herself had the power to contain the Chaos... However, Noel himself would now have to be protected from its corruption.

"Goddess Etro..." prayed Lightning. "Please... Please save him."

Something shimmered on Lightning, as her armor changed to a Guardian form but still retaining how it looked. Cloaked in Etro's light, its wearer could fight back the incarnation of Chaos to save the one that they loved.

Noel was swallowed by the Chaos, and it transformed into a powerful version of Chaos Bahamut. If Lightning wanted to save Noel from the Chaos, defeating its manefestation into Chaos Bahamut was what was needed to be done. Lightning closed her eyes momentarily.

"Don't worry, Noel..." said Lightning. "I'll save you."

Lightning opens her eyes casts Immortality.

"Let's do this!" said Lightning.

Chaos Bahamut attacks with all manners of powerful attacks. Lightning begins casting a series of Thunder attacks before switching to straight blade hits. Chaos Bahamut uses Resist Thunder and then transforms into its aerial form before launching some powerful magic attacks at Lightning. Lightning casts Mighty Guard and then debuffs Chaos Bahamut. Chaos Bahamut gets set to launch Megaflare. Lightning sets a defensive stance.

"Bring it on," said Lightning.

Chaos Bahamut uses Megaflare and transforms back into his more physical form once again and losing his resistances. Lightning casts Aura and then uses Thundaga. Chaos Bahamut launches several attacks on Lightning. If one was to check his HP, they would see he was nearly defeated. A few more powerful attacks would defeat him and set Noel free from the Chaos.

"Odin!" said Lightning.

They team up. Leaping as Light attacks from above and then sensing the precise moment... They attack with Zantetsuken.

Chaos Bahamut roars and disapates as the Chaos disappear, and a form fell from within it... Noel. Lightning dismounts and catches Noel before he touches the ground. Noel was out cold for the moment, but he was safe... for now.

"Come on," said Lightning. "You're safe... I'm not letting you go... Now, please, just be okay."

"Nnnnn..." moaned Noel.

Noel struggles to regain consciousness, but his body was too exhausted from the battle with Caius. Once again, wisps of Chaos started to form around Noel. It seems as though the Chaos wasn't going to let Lightning take Noel so easily from it.

"Noel..." said Lightning. "Stay with me."

Lightning places her hands on both sides of his face before leaning in soundly kissing him as the time vortex opens around them taking them out of Chaos's grasp.

When Lightning pulls away, she looks around finding they had ended up in an unfamiliar town on what looked like Cocoon. Noel slowly starts to blink his eyes open.

"Li-Lightning..?" said Noel, his voice soft and weak. "Wh-what happened...? Wh-where are we..?"

Lightning, relieved Noel was finally speaking, smiles.

"It looks like Oerba..." said Lightning.

"What happened to me...?" asked Noel. "Last thing I remember was fighting Caius before blacking out..."

"You... I-I almost lost you...to Chaos."

Noel was surprised, but as he tried to set up, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest.

"Urgh!" said Noel. "Wh-what's wrong with me...?"

"I'll explain after we get into some shelter," said Lightning.

Lightning spots an abandoned house and supports Noel's weight as she hoists him up. Noel nods and allows Lightning to help him inside the house.

"Man, that battle did a number on me..." said Noel. "...but, I took down Caius, which means the timeline should be safe... So why do I have so much pain in my chest right now..?"

Lightning hesitates.

"Well.. when you killed Caius..." started Lightning. "...the heart had no where else to go...so Chaos chose you."

Noel was surprised.

"You mean..." started Noel. "I'm carrying the Heart of Chaos inside of me..?"

Noel looks sad.

"This is bad, Lightning... If this is true, from what I could see of what happened to Caius, the Chaos will try to corrupt me and turn me against you and work to kill Etro so that it can be unleashed into the timeline to destroy it, which is what it wants to be done..." said Noel. "If that's the case... I may have to leave and head someplace far away so if that does happen... You won't have to see me spiral down into madness..."

"Not exactly..." said Lightning. "I asked for Etro's protection, so I know how we can save you."

Lightning holds a hand to his cheek briefly.

"I'm not going to let you go," said Lightning.

Noel was surprised.

"Lightning..." Noel says and rests against her shoulder. "Thank you..."

Noel tries to get some rest and closes his eyes. Lightning, finally taking a break, wraps her arms around him.

A couple of weeks later, Noel was finally strong enough to walk... His abilities, however, were still not fully there. With the Heart of Chaos now in him, Noel would have to develop his new ablities for when the battle against the Chaos Guardian came... Fortunately, he wasn't alone in this endeavor. Noel looks at Lightning.

"You ready?" asked Noel.

"As ever," said Lightning. "Now, let's get you training."

Noel nods and looks around.

"We're not fighting each other, are we?" asked Noel.

Lightning chuckles. She guessed he was worried about hurting her again.

"Not quite," said Lightning. "There's bound to be something around here."

As if to answer her statement, as they walk a bit further, they can see a Cie'th in the distance.

"See?" said Lightning.

Noel was surprised.

"I thought they were all dead..." said Noel.

"Apprently not," said Lightning. "Something may have dropped them off here, but I guess we're lucky they are."

"For now... It could be the work of the Chaos as well..."

"Let's just get to work."

Noel nods, and they engage the first group of Cie'th. Getting knocked down some, Noel decided to try something.

"Let's try this!" said Noel.

Noel uses Body and Soul gaining some buffs. Lightning stays somewhat out of the way seeing as this was all to help Noel. Lightning follows up with some sword combos. Noel charges up an attack and jumps into the air.

"Take THIS!" said Noel.

Noel launches Inferno taking down several of the Cie'th.

"Whoa!" said Noel.

"Now that's impressive!" said Lightning. "You still doing ok?"

Noel lands and breathes a bit heavily.

"Yea..." said Noel. "...but those attacks are taking their toil on me..."

"That's why you have me," said Lightning.

Lightning takes to healing him with Curaga.

"Thanks," said Noel. "The 'Regenerate' ability hasn't shown up yet... Guess I'm still improving on my skills."

Suddenly, some Cie'ths with some Behemoths appear.

"Damn..." said Noel getting a bit annoyed at the monsters. "Not gonna let me take a break, are you?"

Noel launches multiple Ruinagas at them. A bit of Chaos starts to cling to Noel as if it's feeding off his negative emotions. Lightning senses the new darkness.

"Noel, back off a little bit," said Lightning. "I'll cover you."

Lightning casts an array of magic attacks. Noel does so. The Behemoths try to attack Noel again, forcing him to have to defend himself. A dark aura is starting to build on him as he attacks with a bit more increased strength.

Once they were defeated, Noel turned his attention to the only one left right now... Lightning. His eyes were blank, but he was ready for another fight. Lightning realizes what she has to do.

"I'm sorry..." whispered Lightning.

Lightning sends out a series of Thunder attacks, directly hitting Noel... not much but with his weakened state, it fully KO'ed him. Noel collaspes to the ground as the Chaos disapates from his body.

"So, we can't push the limits that much," said Lightning.

Lightning, kneeling down and lifting Noel to a sitting posistion, holds one arm around her shoulder and wraps her arm around his waist helping him back to the house. Noel wakes up a bit later and groans some before looking at Lightning.

"Man, what hit me..?" asked Noel.

Lightning sighs.

"I did," said Lightning.

Noel blinks.

"Tell me what happened..." said Noel.

"Well, we can't push your limits, or Chaos will take over," said Lightning.

"Damn... I wonder if the Chaos is making more monsters appear when I'm not ready for them..." Noel says and sighs. "Sorry I wasn't in control and got set to attack you, Lightning..."

Once Noel had rested up, he was ready to continue "training", but Lightning would have to keep a closer eye on him... especially if they got separated in a battle or something else separated them.

"Well, let's do this, Lightning..." said Noel. "The longer we wait, the sooner the Chaos will try to come and find me again..."

Soon enough, they come up against a pair of pretty big Cie'th which was still an improvement to before. Noel gets ready to battle and once again casts Body and Soul on himself.

"Let's do this!" said Noel.

Noel launches into a series of attacks but does get hit some.

"Damn! Not good!" said Noel.

Lightning, not taking any risks, steps in front of Noel giving him a chance to heal.

"Take it easy," said Lightning.

Lightning strikes with some Blitzes occupying both of the creatures.

"Thanks," said Noel.

Noel uses a Potion on himself healing his wounds some.

"Here we go again!" says Noel.

Noel uses Inferno as soon as Light's outta the way. One begins to fall, so Light finishes it off with a couple of well placed shots.

"One down, one to go," said Lightning.

Noel nods and launches a few Ruinagas at the beast. The second falls shortly after the two switch off with magic attacks, and then Light turns to Noel.

"Feel ok?" asked Lightning.

Noel nods.

"Yea... But, let's head back..." said Noel. "I'm feeling a bit tired..."

Noel holds his head some.

"I don't blame you," said Lightning and laces their fingers together as they walk back. "We both need some rest."

"Yea..." said Noel.

He still looked like there was something on his mind.

_-Man, this is taking its toil on me...-_ thought Noel. _-But, I can't let it win... for Lightning's sake...-_

Lightning watches Noel. She couldn't help but feel something was...off.

When they got back to where they were staying at in Oerba, Noel headed to an area where he could see the crystalized Cocoon and sat down before sighing. His spirit had slowly been fading, tainted by the Chaos, and he didn't know how much longer he could hold it off. Lightning, trying to give him some space but knowing it's best for him to not be alone, follows shortly before sitting beside him.

"Hey... Still ok?" asked Lightning.

Lightning was not going to fall for the "I'm tired" excuse. Noel sighs.

"Not really... I just feel like hope is fading away from me each time I get tainted by the Chaos..." Noel says with a sigh before he looks at her. "I don't know how much time I've got left before I fall into the darkness and madness like Caius did..."

Lightning feels a sudden rage.

"You can't keep thinking like that!" Lightning says before crossing her arms, standing up, and turning away. "I'm not going to let you go, so get used to it."

Noel sighs but suddenly hears a girl's laughter... one that he reconizes.

"...Yeul?" said Noel.

Noel runs out of the building.

"What?" said Lightning.

Lightning follows, but when she gets outside, he's practically out of sight. Just then, two huge Cie'th appear to block Lightning's way.

"Damn!" cursed Lightning.

Lightning sets up to attack before striking with fits of magic and blade.

While Lightning was having to fight the Cie'th, Noel soon got to where he thought he heard Yeul's laughter and looked around.

"Yeul?" said Noel. "Yeul, it's me, Noel! Where are you?"

Not hearing anything from Yeul, Noel decided to head back to where Lightning was, as she was likely worrying about him. Before he could do so, though, there was a loud thud behind him causing him to fall down some. Getting to his feet and looking behind him, Noel could see a huge mishapen creature behind him, a Cie'th. Noel was pretty shocked about this, but then he heard the creature growling "WEAKLING..." and knew who this is... or was. Noel got ready to battle.

"Damn!" said Noel. "I thought you'd be happy now that I freed you, but I guess not! Guess I'm going to have to put you out of your misery... even though I'd hate to kill my friend, you're NOT him anymore!"

He started to battle the Cie'th on his own but knew that he'd need help eventually and didn't know where Lightning could be at. Noel was getting in some pretty powerful attacks, but while he'd be able to damage the Cie'th some, it wasn't going down fast. At the same time, other Cie'th were begining to show up as well. Noel knew if he didn't get help soon... he'd be in trouble.

"Damn!" said Noel. "This doesn't look good..."

Noel fought valiently, but he was overwhelmed. While he was distracted by the other Cie'th and battling them, once he'd killed them all, he was swatted away by a massive hand, crushing his ribcage and causing him to stop breathing as he hit a wall and was covered by the rubble. Was this the end for him?

At the same time, Lightning was still fighting the two Cie'th and heard the impact. She gasped some as she felt Noel's spirit weakening and knew she had to get to him in time.

"I've got to hurry!" said Lightning. "If I don't, Noel'll die!"

Summoning up Odin once again, Lightning finishes off the two Cie'th and raced to where Noel was at.

When she got there, she could see several Cie'th including one large Cie'th but couldn't see Noel... until she saw his hand sticking out from the rubble of a wall that had collasped onto him, that is. Lightning was shocked and snarled at the Cie'th that were there before summoning out Odin.

"This ends now!" said Lightning. "The storm is here!"

Odin charges with a Zantetsuken attack. All the Cie'th, including the huge one, were killed, and Lightning got off Slepnir and ran over to where Noel was at.

"Odin!" said Lightning. "Help me remove this rubble off of Noel!"

The Eidolon did so before he was dismissed. Lightning flipped Noel over onto his back and shook him gently.

"Noel... NOEL!" said Lightning. "Come on... Wake up!"

But Noel didn't wake up. Lightning put an ear to his chest and found that he wasn't breathing, and feeling along the sides of his chest found that the earlier strike he'd gotten from the large Cie'th had crushed his ribcage. Lightning, knowing she'd have to breathe for Noel until he started to breathe on his own again, used Curaga to heal up Noel so he wouldn't be in pain when he started to breathe on his own again. Once done, Lightning looked at Noel's still form and smiled at him.

"Well, I guess this'll make us even," said Lightning. "You saved me when I was tricked into thinking Serah was in danger, and now, I'm saving you because you were tricked into thinking Yeul was here..."

Kneeling down over Noel's still form, Lightning gently opened up his mouth and started to breathe in slowly. Noel's chest moved moved up and down with each breath Lightning breathed into him, but as he breathed out, Lightning could tell that he still wasn't breathing. Lightning knew she had to keep breathing for Noel until he started to breathe on his own. She takes a deep breath and breathes into Noel again. He would still need some help to breathe once again.

-Come on, Noel...- thought Lightning. -You're a fighter. I KNOW you won't give up... especially for me...-

Lightning checks on Noel's breathing but finds none. She decides to keep breathing for him for a bit longer. She kept this going for a little bit longer until he started breathing. She breathes softly into Noel's mouth once again. Noel starts coughing before starting to breathe on his own as he's begining to wake up, and Lightning lifts him into her arms and hugs him but not too tightly.

"You're going to be all right, Noel," said Lightning. "Thanks for staying with me..."

Noel moaned and slowly started to wake up. He blinked his eyes open and saw that Lightning was holding him. He looked at Lightning.

"Lightning..?" said Noel. "What's going on?"

Lightning didn't say anything for a moment and hugged him as there were tears in her eyes, so Noel knew something bad had happened. Noel looked at Lightning.

"Lightning..." said Noel. "What happened?"

"That giant Cie'th you were fighting..." started Lightning. "...had nearly critically injured you. You were trapped under some rubble with a crushed ribcage and not breathing, so I had to heal you and breathe for you to keep you alive until you started to breathe on your own..."

As Lightning said that, Noel could see the tears in her eyes and knew she was very scared of losing him... He realized he wasn't thinking ahead and nearly got himself killed once again. Noel kissed Lightning on her lips trying to calm her down, and Lightning did not resist as Noel kissed her. Most of the times, it was she who kissed Noel first, but having it where he kissed her was quite a surprise to Lightning, but a welcomed surprise at that. She knew that he finally understood how worried she'd been for him, and he was definitely more understanding now. They soon broke the kiss, and Lightning looked at Noel.

"Well, at least that giant Cie'th is down," said Lightning. "Harming you was the last thing it ever did."

"Yea..." said Noel. "I still can't believe that Caius, of all people, would've wanted to become a Cie'th to kill me..."

Lightning was shocked at this.

"You mean that giant Cie'th was..?" started Lightning.

"...Caius?" said Noel. "Yea, it was... but I still felt something... like he wanted me to find out something..."

"Well, I guess we'll have to look elsewhere."

"Yea..."

Lightning looked at Noel before kissing him again. After all, she'd almost lost him again, and knowing that once this was over that he could stay with her made her happy. Helping Noel up, the two decided to head to Etro's Shrine to see if they could find any clues there now that Caius' spirit had finally been put to rest, and they would soon find something there.

Once they got back to Etro's Shrine, Lightning looks to the shrine finding a new addition.

"That wasn't here before," she murmurs before reaching for the crystal.

Noel senses a familiar presense in the crystal.

"...Caius?" said Noel with a bit of shock on his face.

"What?" said a surprised Lightning.

They both peer into the crystal and then look up to find themselves in a different realm.

"This must be a spirit crystal..." said Lightning. "Where it's like going into someone's dreams."

"And Caius... It's like he never had the malice in him..." said Noel. "Could this be before what changed him?"

They could see Caius, as a l'Cie, defending a Yeul from attacks... and from what they could tell, this was before Noel and Caius had met each other... Caius looks back at Yeul.

"Are you all right, Yeul?" asked Caius.

Yeul smiles.

"Yes, thanks to you, Caius..." said Yeul.

Caius smiles some.

"The threat to the future, once we take care of it, should stabilize the timeline for now..." said Caius. "...and you said that would stop the visions for now, right?"

Yeul nods.

"Yes," said Yeul.

Noel looks at Lightning.

"Hey..." said Noel. "They're talking about saving the future and stablizing the timeline... not destroying it!"

"But what happened..." said Lightning.

The two then saw a very powerful-looking Cie'th appear out of a portal. Caius got ready for battle.

"Yeul, stay back!" said Caius.

Caius summons out his Eidolon, an uncorrupted version of Bahamut, and gets set to battle the Cie'th.

"You shall not destroy the timeline!" declared Caius.

Caius and his Bahamut battled the Cie'th, but once Caius had slayed it, he fell to his knees clutching his chest, as the Heart of Chaos that had been put inside of him previously reacted with the Chaos swirling around him. At the same time, Yeul saw a vision of the future and died, and Caius looked at her.

"I shall remember your pain..." said Caius. "...and I shall destroy the timeline to save you!"

Caius winces holding his head.

"No! I have to PROTECT the timeline!" said Caius as he winces again fighting the pain and realizing something. "I must take on an apprentice who can both slay me and be able to stand up to the Chaos in order for this not to win..!"

It was then that the two saw Caius take the young Noel as his apprentice before the dream faded away.

Noel was shocked.

"Caius... You KNEW this would happen..." said Noel. "You WANTED me to see what happened to you so I would be strong and be able to face this once it fell to me to stop this thing!"

"He wanted to prepare you..." said Lightning. "...to show you why you had to do this and to fight it..."

"If only I'd known earlier..."

A few tears were in Noel's eyes as he looked up at the "sky".

"Caius... I'll make you proud..." said Noel. "I'll show you that I can defeat this thing!"

_-All this time... he had wanted to save the timeline before Chaos took over...-_ thought Lightning.

Noel looks at Lightning.

"Caius must've also been stopping the Paradoxes, and that was what caused the Chaos Guardian to show up when it did!" said Noel. "If we go and stop the Paradoxes that are still around..."

"Then we can beat the Chaos Guardian," said Lightning.

Noel nods and looks again.

"It looks like there may be a crystal from the Yeuls as well..." said Noel. "Maybe they saw where that Cie'th went to and left the clues here for us to find!"

When Noel touched the crystal, he was given a vision of a city that had been consumed by the Chaos that had leaked out previously before Noel was healed by Lightning and whose residents were taken as well. He saw where the main Cie'th was at in the city before the vision faded away. Noel staggered some and collasped to his kneess breathing heavily. Lightning knelt down to Noel.

"What did you see?" asks a concerned Lightning.

Noel tells his vision to Lightning.

"I saw a city that had been consumed by the Chaos and had its people taken away before I was healed by you... and I saw in the center of that city the Cie'th itself," said Noel.

"Sounds like our next stop," said Lightning.

Helping Noel to his feet, Lightning then opened a portal to their next destination. They HAD to stop the Chaos before it consumed the rest of the world as well, and only by defeating what they were now calling the "Chaos Guardian" would they be able to do so.

The two soon made it to the Chaos Guardian's base, in the ruins of a city, its people taken by the Chaos. However, monsters still roamed the ruins, and they would have to get through them to get to where the Chaos Guardian was at. However, they had to be especially careful that Noel wasn't separated from Lightning, as the Chaos Guardian likely knew that he'd been revived and would likely make another attempt at killing him. If Noel decided to check ahead on something, Lightning was sure to follow him.

Noel and Lightning had managed to make it to one area, they couldn't see any sort of trouble and decided to head back, but before they could, a barrier of Chaos went up around them. Noel looked at Lightning.

"Looks like we're going to have to fight our way outta this!" said Noel.

Lightning got ready, and a pair of powerful monsters were sent against them. With some teamwork and some timely help from their Eidolons, they were able to defeat the monsters, and the barrier of Chaos dropped allowing them to leave. They headed back to try a different route now. Noel looks at Lightning.

"Looks like he's expecting us..." said Noel.

"Yea," said Lightning. "That likely means unless we get a move on, he'll likely head our direction to try to kill you."

Once again, Lightning and Noel headed back into the city. The Chaos had warped things so badly that there were now areas that had a lot of moving platforms to be traversed. Though Noel headed first onto them, he waited for Lightning to join him before he would continue. Sometimes, the platforms were small, making it where they had to go one at a time, but Lightning was quick to get to Noel in those cases.

Eventually, Noel and Lightning made it to a dark and forboding tower near the end of the area, and Noel looks at Lightning.

"I can sense it," said Noel. "The Chaos Guardian's inside here."

"Well, let's not keep him waiting," said Lightning.

Noel nodded, and the two headed inside of the tower. There, they faced several challenges, but working in perfect sync, they were able to take care of whatever was thrown their way, and if not, the Eidolons had their backs. Up ahead, a shadowy apparition appears.

"Who the heck?" said Noel.

It launches an attack at the two.

Lightning casts Immortality.

"Let's find out," said Lightning.

Noel nods and gets set to launch an attack but suddenly feels himself getting pulled into a dark portal.

"Wha-?" said Noel as he struggles to get free. "Lightning!"

"Noel-!" said Lightning as she reaches out to grab his hand.

Noel gets swallowed up before she reaches him. However, Noel didn't stay long, as the portal reopened up, and Twilight Odin appeared with Noel.

"Think I was gonna let myself be taken by the darkness?" said Noel. "Think again!"

Lightning, a tad confused, blinks.

"Wha-?" said Lightning.

She snaps out of it.

"That's it!" Lightining snarls and lunges forward before striking at the form.

Noel helps as well before the apparition was defeated. Noel seemed a bit stronger than before. Lightning looked at him.

"...What just happened exactly?" asked Lightning.

"That thing was another one of the Chaos Guardian's servants, and it thought that by taking me into the darkness, I would submit to the Chaos..." Noel sighs some before continuing and looking into her eyes. "...I almost did, but then, I remembered that you were fighting for me and wanting to make sure I would win against this thing, and it gave me the strength to break free from the trap."

Lightning looks away with a slight smile.

"Told you," said Lightning.

Noel nods.

"We'd better figure out what's going on here and fast..." said Noel. "Or we might be looking at what caused my world to become so barren in the future!"

"All right..." said Lightning. "...and since our little guest showed up, we can't be far."

Noel nods.

"Let's go!" said Noel.

Noel runs off. Lightning follows.

Soon, they reach the top of the area, and the two of them look around. Noel looks at Lightning.

"See anything yet, Lightning?" asked Noel.

"Not yet," said Lightning.

Suddenly, more monsters surrounded the two separating Noel from Lightning. Noel looked at Lightning.

"Lightning!" said Noel.

Lightning looked over to where Noel was at.

"Noel!" said Lightning.

Still, she would have to fight the monsters that had her surrounded to get to Noel first. She could see that Noel was also valiently fightning to get to where she was at but wasn't having that much luck. Suddenly, the area distorted as a massive vortex opened up, the same one that had been seen in the vision concerning Caius previously, and both Lightning and Noel knew that this meant trouble. At that moment, a Cie'th had appeared from the distortion... and from what the two could tell, it was a pretty powerful one... Could it be from the future, trying to destroy the past? Or something from the distant past trying to warp the future? They would have to stop it as soon as possible. Noel, who was closer to the Cie'th, knew that if it started to control him meant that Lightning would have to fight and kill him, so he was going to do everything in his power to keep that from happening. Summoning out Twilight Odin, Noel fought bravely but cautiously. He didn't want to get badly injured as he had previously.

Back where she was fighting at, Lightning had seen the Cie'th come out of the distortion and immediately target Noel, so she knew that it knew he was likely Caius' successor and wanted to control him just like it had controlled Caius previously. Noel for his part was trying to keep from getting injured, but he wasn't having that much luck and was soon captured by the Cie'th and was soon being tortured by blasts of Chaos being shot at him trying to get him to submit to the darkness. If she didn't hurry, it would be too late to save Noel. Calling on Odin, Lightning soon defeated the monsters that had her surrounded and ran to where Noel was at. Lightning got in front of Noel and cast Immortality before healing Noel.

_-What the hell is this thing?-_ thought Lightning. _-It's much stronger that a regular Cie'th. And that blast...Chaos?-_

Lightning returns to the battle casting Mighty Guard and then having the two Odins take the front lines. If that happened to be a Chaos Blast, she wasn't willing to take any chances. Noel breathes heavily, as unlike the Chaos Blast, one hit had put him into critical.

"What the hell IS that thing..?" said Noel.

The Cie'th launched another attack at Noel once again. Obviously, it was wanting to take down Noel and wasn't going to stop until it did take him down... just like what had happened to Caius previously. Lightning raises her shield deflecting the blow.

"Odins, cover!" said Lightning.

The Eidolons quickly get in front with Light, healing Noel when needed, staying behind. Another Dark Void was launched at Noel while physical attacks were being used against the two Odins. Lightning was poised ready to defend, but this attack had a bit of a different effect.

The Dark Void swallowed them including the Eidolons. Noel reaches out for Lightning, who he's starting to drift away from.

"Lightning!" yelled Noel.

"Noel!" said Lightning.

Lightning stretches out barely reaching his hand but enough to pull them together. Noel wrapped an arm around her waist so they couldn't be seperated.

"What is happening?" asked Lightning.

"I don't know... but I don't like it..." said Noel.

The two of them landed on a platform in the pitch-black darkness and looked around. Both had a bad feeling about this, and they were right as the Chaos Guardian appeared as a corrupted version of Jet Bahamut and his two cohorts, Amber and Garnet Bahamut. All three of 'em had Chaos Blasts in their abilities, but with all three of them there, they could perform Dark Void. Either version was harmful to Noel, so Lightning stayed in front of him and used Immortality to shield him until Noel could get the full buffs on him using Body and Soul. Once done, the two decided to take down Amber Bahamut first, even though Garnet Bahamut could dispell Noel's buffs. They were able to take down Amber Bahamut quickly and soon took on Garnet Bahamut. Once Garnet was down, Noel reapplied his buffs using Body and Soul before the two of them took on the Chaos Guardian, who unlike Jet Bahamut, couldn't call back the other two Bahamuts. A couple of times during the battle, the Chaos Guardian would manage to nail Noel with a Chaos Blast, weakening him by hitting him with a series of debuffs, including Pain, Fog, Deshell, Deprotect, Debrave, Defaith, and Imperil and causing some extreme pain to Noel. Lightning knew Noel was extremely vunerable now and quickly got back in front of him using Immortality again shielding Noel before launching a few attacks to stun the Chaos Guardian. Afterwards, Lightning used multiple Esunas to heal Noel of his ailments and used a Curaga healing his wounds. She looked at him.

"Noel, are you all right?" said Lightning.

"Yea..." said Noel. "But we're going to have to watch out for that one attack next time it does it!"

"Leave that to me," said Lightning. "You just worry about healing up and getting ready to battle once again."

Noel nodded and did so. Once the Chaos Guardian was freed from whatever had stunned it, it went back after Noel, but once again, Lightning blocked the attack once again. Even though Noel was attacking the Chaos Guardian, his attacks were doing nothing except being absorbed and turned against him. Lightning soon thought of something.

_-With Noel having the Heart of Chaos in him, it's like he's got the same element as this thing...-_ thought Lightning. _-...That's it!-_

She looked at Noel.

"Noel!" said Lightning. "This thing's the same element as your attacks! That's why your attacks aren't hurting it that much!"

"Then WHAT do we DO?" asked Noel.

"Just watch... Goddess Etro..." Lightning says and raises her sword. "Bless this blade!"

The Gunblade begins to shimmer, and Lightning sliced the Chaos Guardian, harming it. Apparently, since it could be contained by the Goddess Etro, the Chaos and its Guardian could be harmed by anything blessed by her. While Noel himself couldn't do much damage to the Chaos Guardian with his weapon in its current state, he could still use his skills as a Ravager to deal damage with the elements, so the two switched to where Noel was the Ravager and Lightning was the Commando. Together, they took on the Chaos Guardian, though if a Chaos Blast was about to be used, they switched back to where Lightning could guard Noel using her Immortality. Eventually, the two finished off the Chaos Guardian in a team-up attack, ending its threat once and for all. The platform underneath them dissolved, and they fell as a gate opened up underneath.

The two soon landed back in the ruins of the city that they'd entered previously to stop the Chaos Guardian but near the entrance instead, and the two walked out. Noel looked at Lightning.

"It's over finally," said Noel.

Lightning nodded some.

"Yea..." said Lightning. "Now, we can go see my sister again."

Noel nodded and felt a wincing of pain in the Heart of Chaos. Lightning looked worried.

"Noel?" said Lightning. "Noel, what is it?"

Noel stumbled some as he was weak and fell, and Lightning caught him. He weakly at Lightning.

"I'm so tired..." said Noel as he passed out.

Lightning was worried and rightfully so as she saw the Chaos that was in this world heading towards them. Then she knew what she could do, but she had to get Noel outta there first. She called on Etro once again.

"Goddess Etro, guide us to you..." said Lightning. "...Away from the Chaos!"

A bright light shines causing the Chaos to shrink away from them and disappear as Lightning and Noel were drawn back into Etro's Shrine. Lightning looked at the unconscious Noel slumped against her shoulder.

_-You won't be able to rest with the Chaos looking for you...-_ thought Lightning. _-...but I know one way you'll be able to rest without it getting to you... shielded in my embrace as we go into Crystal Stasis for a bit.-_

Stairs appeared heading up to the throne on top of the crystal that was there. As Lightning carried Noel up the steps to the throne, she thought about Serah and wanted to make sure that she knew she'd return eventually.

"Etro, please," said Lightning. "Take away the 'Eyes of Etro' that my sister has but leave her with one last vision... Of me telling her I'll be coming back before we go into Crystal Stasis..."

Lightning soon sat on the throne and pulled Noel into her arms resting his head against her left shoulder. Their weapons were encased within a crystal formation to their right as the Crystal Stasis begain to cover them. Lightning looked out as if looking at where her sister was at as the crystal covered her but hadn't covered her face yet.

"Serah..." said Lightning. "I'll be back soon... with a new friend for you to meet... But for now, we must rest so he can regain his strength..."

Once it was said, Lightning let the Crystal Stasis take her as well.

Serah had seen the vision as a dream and knew Lightning was okay and that the male with her likely was her new friend that she mentioned and someone very dear to her, so she told Snow about this, and they were able to get to where Hope was in the timeline. There, five-hundred years into the future, Lightning and Noel would reawaken once that amount of time had passed and would meet up again with their friends. Sazh was there was well after spending time in Serendipty. During that time, while Lightning and Noel "slept" in their Crystal Stasis, Serah, Snow, and Hope worked to prevent the world from becoming a barren place, as Serah had seen in one "dream" before the one of Lightning going into Crystal Stasis with her friend, and Hope designed an artifical Cocoon that was like an ark to shield the population once the old Cocoon's pillar fell. They'd also worked to get Fang and Vanille retrieved before the pillar went and knew that soon, only time would tell if the plan would work. Snow and Serah had also helped to get what was needed going to different times as well, as before she and the mysterious boy "Noel" had gotten separated, he'd taught her how to use the time gates, and Snow was able to get to where Serah was at using Shiva. They worked hard together to make Hope's dream a reality and had decided to put off getting married until Lightning and her friend returned to them.

Durning this time, the Yeuls, or rather, their spirits, had recorded what was going on for now inside of some crystal shards so that when Lightning and Noel came out of their Crystal Stasis with their energy fully restored, they would know what had been going on while they "slept".

What seemed like a few weeks for the two was actually about five-hundred years for the timeline, the same time that Serah and Snow had made it to Academia and helped out Hope with his project to save humanity from disappearing completely. The crystal dissolved around Lightning and Noel, and Lightning was the first one to wake up and looked at Noel.

"Noel..?" said Lightning.

She hoped what she'd done had allowed Noel to recover his strength. Noel's eyes blinked open, and he looked at Lightning.

"L-Lightning?" said a confused Noel. "What happened?"

"You were pretty weak after the last battle, and there was Chaos still looking for you, so I brought you here to Etro's Shrine so that you could rest," said Lightning. "I made it where we went into Crystal Stasis as well so the Chaos couldn't find you."

Noel was surprised but was happy that Lightning did so and kissed her on her lips.

"Thanks, Lightning," said Noel.

Lightning nodded, and as the two of them got their weapons from where they were in crystal, the steps reappeared so they could get back to the floor of the shrine. Once down there, the two found that there were some crystal shards from the spirits of the Yeuls which had likely recorded what had been going on since they had "slept". Touching the crystals, Lightning and Noel saw that Serah and Snow had made it five-hundred years into the future to the Academia that Hope was at. They saw how Hope had created a new Cocoon that was powered by special Gravatron Cores as an ark to protect humanity once Cocoon had fallen. They had seen how Fang and Vanille were freed from the pillar and that Sazh and Dajh were there too. The last thing recorded on a crystal shard was a message from Serah to Lightning. Lightning touched it, and Serah's voice could be heard.

_"Sis, I know you and your friend are sleeping right now, but just know that I'm protecting the timeline along with Snow, Hope, and the others,"_ said Serah's voice. _"Before your vision of you going into Crystal Stasis with your friend, I'd seen another one of a young man on this planet that was completely barren of human life, and I didn't want that to happen... So, Snow, Hope, Sazh, and myself decided to do something to change the future and hopefully, it'll be better for that young man in the future. When you wake up, I hope that we'll get to see you and that friend of yours so we can all head to the future that we shaped together."_

Noel, hearing this, was quite surprised. Although he'd briefly met Serah before he was caught by Jihl, somehow, she'd seen the world he'd lived in and wanted to change the future so that he'd have a better one, and Lightning smiled at him.

"I bet Etro gave her that vision," said Lightning. "She wanted to thank you for what you did to protect the timeline."

Noel nodded, and crystal flakes and light surrounded the two momentarily giving them back their original outfits. Lightning was now in her Guardian Corps outfit and Noel was in his original hunter's outfit. Lightning looked at Noel.

"Looks like it's time for us to go and meet up with the others," said Lightning.

Noel nodded.

"Yea," said Noel.

The two headed to a time gate that had appeared.

The next thing the two realized was that they were falling through the sky above a large city. Noel looked at Lightning.

"I wish we'd known about this sooner!" said Noel.

"Stay close then!" said Lightning.

Just as the two thought they'd be plunging to their doom, they soon landed on an airship. Noel looked at Lightning.

"What's an airship doing here?" asked Noel.

Before Lightning could answer, a male voice, distorted slightly by the speakers but familiar to Lightning spoke up.

"Making sure the two of you didn't go splat on the pavement," said the male's voice.

Lightning was surprised.

"Sazh?" said Lightning. "How did you know where we'd be coming from?"

"Trust me," said Sazh. "I had help from some friends who are here as well."

As he said that, Serah, Snow, and Hope appeared, and Lightning was very surprised to see them as much as they were surprised to see Lightning. Serah ran over and hugged her sister.

"Lightning!" said Serah. "You're back!"

"I am," said Lightning. "Thanks to a friend I want you to meet... though, he's more than a friend to me."

Noel looked at Serah for a moment, and she was surprised, to say the least.

"Wait..." said Serah. "That's the same one I saw in my vision a while back... Noel!"

"Yea..." said Noel. "It's a long story..."

"Still, without him here right now, the Chaos would've had this world earlier," said Lightning. "He now carries the Heart of Chaos inside of him as the guardian of the timeline."

"Wait, the Heart of Chaos?" said Snow. "You mean that same thing that Caius had in him?"

"That's right," said Noel. "Just as he said previously, as long as it beats, the Goddess still lives, and as long as Etro still lives, the Chaos is kept in check, though I still have to watch out for any Chaos Guardians that show up."

"Well, we've got your back as well," said Hope. "A friend of Lightning's is a friend of ours."

Noel nodded, and Sazh spoke up though the loudspeakers.

"Everyone's on the new Cocoon, and they just got Fang and Vanille loaded up as well," said Sazh. "And just in time as well!"

The group watched on deck as the Crystal Pillar crumbled and the old Cocoon fell to the ground. At the same time, the new Cocoon floated into the sky, and Noel smiled as he watched it. He was there when his people spoke of when the Crystal Pillar had fallen, but he had to wonder if the future that he came from had changed. Lightning looked at Noel.

"What's on your mind, Noel?" asked Lightning.

"I know that this future is saved..." said Noel. "But, I want to know if the time I came from has changed or not because of this."

Lightning nodded, and Hope looked at them.

"Maybe you should go check," said Hope. "After all, it was what Serah saw about what your time looked like that inspired what we did here, so I think you should see if your time was saved."

Noel nodded and looked at Lightning.

"You ready?" asked Noel.

Lightning nodded, and Serah came over with Snow.

"Can we come as well?" asked Serah.

"Yea, I want to see when you came from as well," said Snow. "Compared to how things are there, our life seemed a bit easy..."

Lightning elbowed Snow in his gut causing him to lose his breath momentarily, and Noel had to laugh as he now understood how it was between Lightning and her sister's fiancee. Noel smiled.

"Sure," said Noel, "but if they talk about a 'hero', they're not talking about you."

Snow blinked about that getting a laugh from both Serah and Lightning. Hope looked at them.

"You guys can tell me once you get back," said Hope.

The group nodded, and a time gate opened in front of them, so the four going headed inside to see if what they'd done during the time that they were in had any effect on the future.

When the group stepped out of the time gate, the first thing that Noel noticed was that instead of deserts, flowing grasslands were seen. He looked amazed, and there were tears in his eyes, but they were tears of joy. Lightning walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Looks like it's changed," said Lightning.

Noel nodded and heard someone calling his name. He blinked in surprise as he knew who it belonged to.

"Yeul?" said Noel running off.

Lightning looked at Snow and Serah.

"Come on!" said Lightning. "Let's follow him!"

The two nodded and followed after Noel. In a area of grass and flowers, they soon caught up with Noel as he was looking around. Soon the group could see a girl who was familiar to Noel as he was smiling brightly as he ran to embrace her.

"Yeul!" said Noel. "You're really here!"

Snow looked at Lightning.

"So, who is this 'Yeul' that Noel's so happy about?" asked Snow.

"A very dear friend of his who had died in his original future," said Lightning. "Her last vision before she died, he told me, was for him to save the future and that they would meet again someday as it was shown in a field of flowers."

"Wow..." said Serah.

Noel brought over Yeul to meet Lightning, Snow, and Serah, calling Lightning his "very special friend who's already won his heart", causing Lightning to blush. Yeul also told Noel that Caius wanted to see him as well, and this surprised the group. Noel looked a bit worried about this, but Lightning put her hand on his shoulder.

"Remember, we've got your back here," said Lightning.

Noel nodded, and the group followed Yeul back to Noel's hometown there, which while looking like a hunters' camp, had a very strong population. As they passed, some people called Noel "the chosen one" or "the protector" which surprised Lightning and the others. How had these people known of Noel if they were in an alternate future? They would soon find out once they met up with Caius... and even he had changed.

In the same area where Noel had met up with Caius previously, he was standing there waiting for Noel and the others. Unlike previously, he smiled at Noel though Noel still was wary as the others were.

"Well, it seems as though my successor has grown into a fine young man and guardian of the timeline," said Caius. "You do not know how much this makes me happy."

"Caius..." started Noel. "But how..?"

"Perhaps I should explain. Then, you'll understand."

He took the group to the Farseerers Shrine where an Oracle Drive was at. Noel was surprised about this.

"An Oracle Drive?" said Noel. "But what about...?"

"Yeul?" said Caius. "She no longer has the visions, as if it was blessing from the Goddess herself. The Oracle Drive you see here still functions, but instead of the Seeress seeing the visions and it recording it, a special crystal that was found near it is used to activate it and see what's going on. It is through this that we are able to record what's going on in the past and the legend of the 'Guardian of the Timeline' who came from this village..."

He walks a bit and then points to Noel.

"...You," said Caius. "Despite this, there are still who want to change the timeline so much that it gets completely destroyed or turns the world into what you, me, and Yeul saw as well as your friends over there... They are known as the 'Chaos Agents' and they seek to take down the Guardian of the Timeline."

Noel was a bit shocked about this, and his friends gasped about this.

"That's terrible!" said Serah. "Why would someone want to do something like that?"

"That I don't know," said Caius. "However, now that Noel has become the Guardian of the Timeline, he must be ready for when his partner for all eternity appears so that he can show it his true strength to make it submit to him," said Caius. "But for now, it sleeps. Within three days, it will appear, and Noel will have to have two other things to call out the 'Guardian's Servant' and summon it to face it."

"What does he need?" asked Lightning.

"The first is the 'Guardian's Blade', which is being created for him at this moment in the form of the weapon he's most used to using," said Caius. "The second... is this..."

Caius brought out a fang, and Noel was surprised.

"That's the King Behemoth's fang of the first one that no one else could slay but that I had slayed earlier!" said Noel. "But, it disappeared when I disappeared from the timeline!"

"Yes, but it was found later on by one of the villagers and given to me for safe keeping," said Caius. "I have been holding onto it for you until the day that you returned."

Caius returned the King Behemoth's fang to Noel who looked a bit surprised holding it again. He'd remembered when he'd fought the King Behemoth along with Caius and slayed it and Caius had told Noel that he was the first one who'd been sent out to find the King Behemoth and had been able to kill it and was allowed to keep the fang as reminder that nothing was impossible if he put his mind to it. Lightning remembered when she had to help the past Noel as well battle the King Behemoth and had allowed him to kill it feeling that it was right. Now, she knew why. It was leading up to this time.

For the time being, Noel and his group was allowed to stay in the village until the time to summon the "Guardian's Servant" came. It was during this time that Lightning, Snow, and Serah saw how Noel lived when he lived during this same time previously. There were even a few hunts that happened, and Noel was always a bit excited when those came up, but then again, who wouldn't be after felling an extremely tough monster like a King Behemoth? One of the monsters surprised them, as it was the Adamantoise. Noel told them that the reason they'd be going after the Adamantoise is that there was going to be a great feast that night on the eve of when the "Guardian's Blade" would be presented to him, and Noel was allowed to choose his favorite dish. Lightning seemed surprised as well as the other two, but then again, this would be something new. Not many people wanted to hunt the Adamantoise, but Noel did. Lightning and the others asked to help as well, and they were allowed to do so since they were Noel's friends. One other came along with them, that being Caius, to see how well Noel had gotten. He would not be disappointed. Since Noel was the leader, he'd be tracking the Adamantoise they'd be hunting, and soon, the group came upon their towering prey. Unlike previously, a group of four was allowed to fight, so Noel and his three friends faced the Adamantoise, taking it down just a few minutes later. Caius nodded some.

"Impressive," said Caius. "You have definitely gotten stronger since I last saw you... when I was sane, that is."

Serah and Snow were confused about this, and Lightning explained what she and Noel had learned about Caius and how it was the Chaos controlling him and how he hoped that Noel would be able to stop it. The Caius that they were seeing now was the one that Noel knew from before then. Caius went back to get a group to come and carve up the Adamantoise for the feast. Noel and the others stayed to keep other monsters from taking it. Soon, the group was there, and Caius told Noel and the others that they could head on back.

Soon, as the night fell, it was time for the celebration and when Noel would get the "Guardian's Blade". Though Snow was a bit jealous, he understood that these were Noel's friends and family and that he deserved this. Soon, Caius, holding a very impressive weapon that looked like two swords in the shape of dragon wings that could transform into a javellin, called Noel to where he was at and presented Noel with the weapon. He learned that this Guardian's Blade was known as the "Wings of the Dragon Lord" and was a key into figuring out the identity of the "Guardian's Servant" that would soon be appearing. Afterwards, the celebration was over, and Noel went back to his friends. Snow whistled as he looked at the weapon.

"Man, that's a pretty amazing weapon, Noel," said Snow.

"Thanks," said Noel. "It's called the 'Wings of the Dragon Lord'. Caius said that it was a key into figuring out the identity of what my 'Guardian's Servant' would be when it appeared."

"Sounds like it's going to be some sort of Eidolon as well," said Lightning. "We'd best get some rest so that when it does show we won't be tired."

The group was then showed to where they'd be staying at by Yeul. It was one of the few buildings that didn't have anyone living in it but still looked like a home. Noel reconized it as his old home which still brought a few tears to his eyes as the people had restored it to its former glory. Lightning hugged Noel some.

"They really respect you around here," said Lightning. "That's why they fixed up someplace dear to you."

"Yea," said Serah. "After what Fang and Vanille did to save Cocoon previously, their hometown of Oreba was listed as a protected place."

Noel nodded some and knew that each time he came back to this time, he'd have a place to call home. He showed Snow and Serah to the guest bedroom while he took Lightning to his room. Then, the group fell asleep not knowing that Noel would have a vision of what his "Guardian's Servant" would look like that very night.

As Noel rested, he had a dream of what looked like an bluish-colored Bahamut that appeared where the Adamantoise they'd taken down three days ago appeared at during the stormy weather that was about to roll in as well as its name to call it into battle to tame it. He now knew how to get his Eidolon to show up, and when the morning came, he told Lightning and the others about his vision. Snow looked at Noel.

"So, looks like it's time, huh?" said Snow.

"Yea," said Noel. "But I'm ready for this, thanks to you guys."

"We'll be there in case you need our help," said Serah.

Noel nodded, and the group headed to where Caius was at. While Caius had taken on his own Eidolon on his own, based on what had been seen on the Oracle Drive, Noel was allowed to have one other with him during the battle, so he chose Lightning to help him out. Since there would likely be Cie'th around as well, Serah and Snow said they'd take care of them, and Noel thanked them. Then, they were given some Chocobos to get to where they needed to be at, as a lookout had spotted the distortion that had appeared as the storm rolled in. Noel looked at the other three with him.

"You ready?" asked Noel.

The three of them nodded, and Noel spurred his Chocobo taking off followed by the other three heading towards the distortion. The group knew that the only thing that could cause such a powerful vortex now with the Paradoxes solved was an Eidolon, and the group headed to the area. Approaching the vortex with Lightning, Noel stood in front of it called out to the Eidolon with the name that he was given for it from his dream.

"Azure Bahamut, appear!" said Noel. "I, Noel Kreiss, challenge you!"

With a roar, the bluish-colored Bahamut appears and stares at the teenage boy for a moment before the battle began. Due to the weather being stormy, Cie'th showed up, so Serah and Snow kept them at bay leaving Noel and Lightning to concentrate on this battle with Azure Bahamut. Noel was able to discover that Azure Bahamut would submit to three major things: Successful Chain Gauge raising, successful blocking and enduring attacks, and providing allies with buffs. He also would submit to those who healed their wounded allies, but Noel decided to concentrate on just the buffing and blocking. Lightning could take care of the attacks and healing. As they found out, Noel had been given ablities of both Caius and Lightning. While his "Immortality" was stronger than Snow's "Invincibilty", it could only be used for every other block attempt, and the "Body and Soul" buff only started him off with three buffs - Protect, Veil, and Haste - leaving him to have to place the other buffs on him and Lightning. Each time that Noel successfully blocked an attack from Azure Bahamut while he was buffed seemed to satisfy the Eidolon the most, and Snow and Serah noticed this as well.

"I think he found what satisfies the Eidolon the most!" said Snow.

"At least Sis is there to make sure he succeeds in this test," said Serah.

Indeed, the battle with the Eidolon was almost completed, and Noel could sense that Azure Bahamut was ready to submit. He looked at the Eidolon.

"Let's do this!" said Noel raising his hand.

Azure Bahamut went into his Gestalt Mode, which was the same as Fang's Bahamut and how Chaos Bahamut was, and Noel leapt onto his back before the dragon took off into the sky flying high. Lightning, Serah, and Snow smiled seeing that Noel was able to tame his Eidolon, which meant he'd have a powerful ally to help him out when the Chaos Agents showed up. Soon, the Eidolon came back down, and Noel hopped off his back before it flew off ready to be called back by its chosen one when needed. Noel also gained its Eidoloth in the shape of a dragon's claw. The others came over, and Snow clapped Noel on his back.

"Not bad," said Snow. "Looks like you'll have quite the ally in the making there."

"Yea," said Noel. "I bet even Hope won't believe what happened."

"Somehow, I think he will," said Lightning.

The group soon headed back to the village, and Caius saw that Noel had his Eidoloth meaning he had tamed his Eidolon. He congradulated Noel and sent him and the others on their way saying that Noel was always welcome to come back anytime he wanted. Noel nodded, and the group headed back through the time gate.

Once there, Serah and Snow told what happened to Hope while Lightning took Noel to rest inside the ship. After all, he was pretty exhausted. The two of them knew that if their outfits changed to the ones that designated them as "Guardians", they would have to leave, but the others understood. When that time came, the group, sans Fang and Vanille, as they'd yet not woken up from their Crystal Stasis, went to see the two off. They knew that even though Lightning and Noel had to go now, they'd be back eventually, but for right now, there was something going on in the timeline that they had to stop, as they were its Guardians. Waving good-bye to their friends, Noel and Lightning headed into the time gate on a new journey to protect the timeline from Paradoxes and to find out what the future held for them all. Sometimes, they'd visit Noel's time, which was no longer a dying world, to see Yeul, who was always happy to see Noel and also to see Noel happy with someone always there beside him. Sometimes, they traveled to Serendipty to partake in a few Chocobo Races or even a few card games. Sometimes, they helped out the hunters' camp by taking on new and more powerful monsters... And sometimes, Noel and Lightning could be found relaxing in New Bodhum with their friends, as every time they returned, a celebration was held in their honor besides the one time they made it back in time to see Serah and Snow's wedding, as they'd promised.

During their trips to Valhalla, Noel and Lightning discovered the wisdom of the Yeuls had been left for them inside of crystals within Etro's throne room. Called the "Seeress Crystals", these crystals guided Noel and Lightning to other Paradoxes they may have missed, as the Yeuls knew that Noel, being the Guardian of the Timeline now, would need to be able to find the anomalies and Paradoxes before they tore the timeline apart.

And in Academia, Noel and Lightning found another thing that their friends created to keep their memories of them alive. Hope had made sure that Noel and Lightning's journeys were recorded in what he called "Chronicles of the Guardians of the Timeline", which was taught in the schools as well, something that Serah insisted on as well. This way, Noel and Lightning's legend, even when they weren't around, was still very much alive and something that would continue on until the end of time.

But, even though the timeline was safe for now, Noel and Lightning always had to be careful, as Caius' warning of the "Chaos Agents" was always on their minds, but that's another story for another time.


End file.
